Davis NF, et al. - This comparison of clinical outcomes of miniaturised percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PCNL) and flexible ureteropyeloscopy (FURS) for treating urinary tract calculi in a single session revealed the association of mini-PCNL with greater stone-free rates and longer inpatient stay compared to FURS, however, the complication rates were similar for both techniques.

• Researchers identified studies comparing mini-PCNL and FURS for the treatment of urinary tract calculi via a systematic search using electronic databases.
• Stone-free rates (SFRs) and complication rates for both techniques were the primary outcome.
• Secondary outcome measurements were to compare patient demographics, operative duration, and inpatient stay.
• They carried out meta-analysis with Review Manager version 5.3 software.

• A total of 16 studies on 1598 patients (n = 877 for mini-PCNL and n = 721 for FURS) met inclusion criteria.
• Both groups had similar demographics including age (p=0.26), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.51), and gender ratio (p=0.6).
• In the mini-PCNL group vs FURS group, SFR was significantly greater (n = 763/877, 89.3 ± 8.4% vs n = 559/721, 80.1 ± 13.3% [OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.53–2.64; p < 0.01]).
• Furthermore, findings demonstrated significantly greater duration of inpatient stay in the mini-PCNL group vs the FURS group (n = 877, 4 ± 1.6 days vs n = 721, 2.5 ± 2.2 days, respectively [WMD: 1.77; 95% CI 1.16–2.38, p < 0.01].
• Researchers noted that overall complication rates were not significantly different between mini-PCNL and FURS (n = 171/877, 19.5 ± 19.1% vs n = 112/721, 15.5 ± 18.9%, respectively [OR 1.43; 95% CI 0.85–2.4, p=0.18]).