Percutaneous removal of kidney stones. Preliminary report.

We have performed percutaneous extractions of renal pelvic stones in 15 patients with the use of the Wolf percutaneous universal nephroscope. At one session, with the patient under general anesthesia, a percutaneous tract is dilated to 24 F, and the stone is immediately removed. Fifteen stones have been removed successfully by ultrasonic lithotripsy, basket retrieval, use of a forceps, or a combination of these techniques. Average operating time has been 1 hour and the mean hospitalization time 4 days. The advantages of this technique are that a skin incision of only 1 to 2 cm is required to remove the stone, hospital days are fewer than with open procedures, and postoperative morbidity is minimal. In selected situations, this method represents a significant advance over standard open surgical procedures for removal of renal pelvic stones.