Comparative Study of Retroperitoneal Laparoscopic Versus Open Ipsilateral Nephrectomy After Percutaneous Nephrostomy: A Multicenter Analysis.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of retroperitoneal laparoscopic ipsilateral nephrectomy of a benign nonfunctional kidney after percutaneous nephrostomy, and to compare this method with open surgery. Materials and Methods: Data from 70 patients who underwent simple nephrectomy from January 2014 to October 2018 at three large centers were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent percutaneous nephrostomy because of renal or ureteral calculi with severe hydronephrosis or pyonephrosis. Simple nephrectomy was performed via retroperitoneal laparoscopic surgery (retroperitoneal laparoscopic group; n = 33) or open surgery (open group; n = 37). The retroperitoneal laparoscopic and open groups were compared regarding preoperative variables (age, sex, location of surgery, hypertension, diabetes, BMI, preoperative serum creatinine level, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade, fistula duration, fistula size, number of fistulae, and urinary tract infection), and perioperative variables (operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage volume, catheter indwelling time, gastrointestinal function recovery time, duration of bedrest, duration of postoperative hospitalization, postoperative hemoglobin decline, perioperative transfusion, and postoperative complications). Results: The retroperitoneal laparoscopic group included more patients with hydronephrosis, while the open group included more patients with pyonephrosis. There were no significant differences between the two groups in age (P = .813), sex (P = .729), location of surgery (P = .345), hypertension (P = .271), diabetes (P = .394), BMI (P = .798), preoperative serum creatinine level (P = .826), ASA grade (P = .820), fistula duration (P = .108), fistula size (P = .958), number of fistulae (P = .925), urinary tract infection (P = .111), or operative time (P = .851). The retroperitoneal laparoscopic group had significantly lesser intraoperative blood loss (P = .007), postoperative drainage volume (P = .008), shorter catheter indwelling time (P = .002), gastrointestinal function recovery time (P < .001), duration of bedrest (P < .001), and duration of postoperative hospitalization (P < .001), and lesser postoperative hemoglobin decline (P = .035) compared with the open group. Conclusions: Retroperitoneal laparoscopic ipsilateral nephrectomy is feasible for a benign nonfunctional kidney after percutaneous nephrostomy. The surgical method should be selected based on the surgeon's experience and the specific situation of the patient.