Complications associated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy

The increasing global prevalence of nephrolithiasis continues to burden the healthcare delivery systems of industrialized nations and exact a disproportionate humanitarian toll on populations of the developing world (1). In the United States alone, the prevalence of nephrolithiasis is nearly twice the rate reported in the 1960s (2-5). The subsequent rise in surgical interventions for nephrolithiasis has resulted in the development of new minimally invasive technologies and techniques, but it has also led to the resurgence of established methods such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL).