Suctioning versus traditional minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy to treat renal staghorn calculi: A case-matched comparative study

Abstract Background Staghorn calculi remain a treatment challenge for urologists. The aim of the study was to compare the treatment outcomes of suctioning minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (MPCNL) and traditional MPCNL for renal staghorn stones. Materials and methods Between April 2018 and June 2019, we included patients suffering from renal staghorn stones who were treated with modified MPCNL with a suctioning system. The outcomes of these patients were compared with those of a cohort of patients undergoing traditional MPCNL (between January 2017 and March 2018) using a 1:1 scenario matched-pair analysis. Cases were matched sequentially according to stone burden, stone branches, and stone hardness as well as age and sex. Results A total of 512 patients were included in this study (256 patients in each group). The baseline characteristics were equally distributed between the two groups. The suctioning MPCNL group achieved a significantly higher stone-free rate (SFR) (78.5% vs 69.1%; P = 0.016) after a single procedure and had a significantly shorter operative time (106.2 ± 18.4 vs. 132.1 ± 22.2 min; P  Conclusions The use of suctioning MPCNL for staghorn calculi had advantages over the use of traditional MPCNL in terms of a higher SFR after a single procedure and fewer postoperative infectious complications. Further well-designed studies are needed to confirm the results.