Objective: To investigate 18 independent peroperative parameters that may have an effect on fever after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL).
Study design: A descriptive study.
Place and duration of study: Departments of Urology, Nevşehir State Hospital, and Sultan Abdulhamid Han Education and Research Hospital, Turkey, from January 2016 to June 2019.
Methodology: Two hundred and seventy-six patients, who underwent PCNL between 2016 and 2019 in two institutions, were evaluated retrospectively. Patients were divided as Group I and II, according to the absence or presence of fever after PCNL, then peroperative parameters were compared.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference between Group I and II in terms of age, gender, side of stone, ipsilateral open stone surgery or PCNL history, presence of renal anatomic anomaly, preoperative hydronephrosis grade, stone size in computed tomography (CT), stone Houndsfield Unit (HU) value, skin stone distance, duration of operation, postoperative D-J insertion rate and postoperative blood transfusion requirement (p >0.05). Guy' s Stone Score (GSS), number of calyceal access and duration of achieving limpid urine coming out of the nephrostomy tube were significantly higher in Group II (p <0.05). The rate of postoperative fever was statistically significantly higher in patients with middle calyceal (mid-calyceal) access, than patients with inferior calyceal access (p=0.05).
Conclusion: High GSS, mid-calyceal access, the increase in the amount of mid-calyceal access, the longer duration of achieving limpid urine coming out of the nephrostomy tube were found to be related with fever after PCNL. Key Words: PCNL, Post-PCNL fever, Nephrolithiasis, Guy's stone score.