[Open surgery for upper urinary tract stones].

Open surgery for stones of the upper urinary tract has very few indications, failures or complications of other techniques, greater than 2cm stones, hard stones, anatomical abnormalities and complex stones. Open surgery for stone may be difficult and need specific tools. For the kidney, the anatrophic nephrotomy is an effective procedure which spares the renal function. For the ureter, the mini-ureterotomy is no more invasive than laparoscopy. The stone-free rate of open surgery is over 90%. The main complications are stenosis, fistula and infections.