The study aims to compare the efficacy and safety of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in treating renal pelvis calculus in infants

This randomized controlled trial took place in urology department from July 2023 to July 2024. No external funding was received for this research. A total of 84 infants aged 1–12 months with renal pelvis calculus were randomly assigned to one of two groups: PCNL (Group A, n = 56) or ESWL (Group B, n = 28). Patients with severe comorbid illnesses or who had previously undergone renal pelvis calculus surgery were excluded. One month after therapy, stone clearance rates were examined using X-rays and ultrasonography. Postoperative complications included hematuria, urinary tract infections (UTIs), abdominal pain, and urinary tract blockage. The data was analyzed using SPSS with a statistical significance level of p < 0.05.

The study showed that the stone clearance rate was considerably higher in the PCNL group (92.9%) than in the ESWL group (53.6%) (p = 0.0001). The ESWL group had a greater incidence of postoperative complications, including urinary tract infections (14.3% vs. 0%, p = 0.004) and abdominal pain (10.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.01). Hematuria was more prevalent in the ESWL group, although not statistically significant (p = 0.07).

PCNL offers higher stone clearance rates than ESWL in infants with renal pelvis calculus. PCNL exhibited notably lower complications than ESWL.