[Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL): evaluation of 250 PCNL by the same operator].

The author reports his 8-year experience of PCNL in 250 patients between the ages of 8 and 86 years, including 31 staghorn calculi and 52 ureteric stones treated via a descending approach. The other stones were pelvic or caliceal and 4 occurred in a solitary kidney. The technique used and the complications are described in detail. The most serious complication was infection, which was almost fatal in 1 case. Haemorrhage (7 cases) and intestinal perforation (2 right colonic perforations) never required surgical intervention. There were no deaths or nephrectomies. The results were immediately perfect (stone-free) in 77.6% of cases and in 82.8% of cases after spontaneous elimination of stone debris or repeat PCNL.