Photo Credit: Shivendu Jauhari
The following is a summary of “Percutaneous nephroscopy versus flexible ureteroscopy in the treatment of calyceal diverticulum calculi: a meta-analysis,” published in the January 2025 issue of Urology by Hu et al.
The optimal minimally invasive method for treating calyceal diverticulum calculi remains controversial.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy (FURL) in treating calyceal diverticulum calculi.
They searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Clinical Trial Platform, CNKI, and VIP up to April 2024. They assessed the quality of the studies including using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), with scores ranging from 0 to 9 stars.
The results showed that FURL had less blood loss [standard mean difference (SMD) = 1.713, 95%CI: (0.858, 2.568), P = 0.000] and shorter hospital stays [SMD = 2.611, 95% CI: (1.726, 3.496), P = 0.000] compared to PCNL. No significant differences were found in operating time [SMD = 0.079, 95%CI: (-0.43, 0.589), P = 0.760], complication rate [OR = 1.793, 95%CI: (0.952, 2.602), P = 0.113], stone-free rate [OR = 1.339, 95%CI: (0.576, 3.112), P = 0.497], or symptom-free rate [OR = 3.826, 95%CI: (0.561, 10.238), P = 0.334]. A total of 755 patients from 15 high-quality studies were included.
Investigators concluded that FURL demonstrated advantages in blood loss and hospital stay, but no significant differences were found in other outcomes. Further multi-center, large-scale studies were needed to confirm FURL’s superiority over PCNL for treating renal diverticulum stones.
Source: bmcurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12894-024-01655-w
