Recent Advances in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Abstract

The continuous innovations in technology, instrumentations, and techniques allow urologists to perform percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with increasing efficacy. Although recent advances have facilitated the procedure, some steps are still challenging. A thorough review of the recent urologic literature was performed to identify these improvements in PCNL technique. The newer developments mainly focused on multimodal imaging techniques, miniaturisation of instruments, tracking and navigation systems during access to the stone, and robotic systems. Further studies are necessary to better define the benefits of these new fruitful developments which remain an active research field.