Management of Lower Pole Nephrolithiasis and Stone Recurrence: Partial Nephrectomy

Aim: Renal stone disease is a frequently recurrent disease. Among the renal stone diseases 25–35% is localized to lower pole. Despite different treatments of the lower caliceal stones, partial nephrectomy is assumed to decrease the rate of recurrence. Material and Method: In this study fifty-seven patients, (29 with lower pole nephrectomy and 28 with pyelolithotomy, nephrolithotomy and pyelonephrolithotomy) who were surgically treated for their lower caliceal stones, were re-evaluatnefed in our clinic retrospectively. Infundibulopelvic angle, infundibulum length and diameter were measured by standard IVP according to the renal anatomy definition made by Sampaio et al. The mean follow-up period for all the above mentioned patients was 79 months. Results: Whereas the mean infundibulopelvic angle of the patients, treated with partial nephrectomy, increased from 57 degrees preoperatively to 108 degrees postoperatively, the angle of the patients treated with pyelolithotomy, nephrolithotomy and pyelonephrolithotomy did not change. During the follow-up period, the recurrence rate in the patients, treated with partial nephrectomy, was in 78 months 10 percent, but in the patients; treated with pyelolithotomy, nephrolithotomy and pyelonephrolithotomy, in 80 months 21 percent. Conclusion: Partial nephrectomy decreases the recurrence rate of lower pole renal stones through eliminating the anatomical factors that cause stone formation.