Introduction:
Globally, individuals aged 65 and over are defined as the ‘elderly
population’ (1). Especially in developed and developing countries, the
decrease in birth rates, as well as the prolongation of life expectancy
at birth and advanced age have led to a relative increase in the elderly
population and its share in the total population. As a result of this
increase, more elderly patients require treatment due to urinary system
stones. Staghorn stones are of particular concern in this age group
because the management of such stones may require lengthy and multiple
procedures and has a high complication rate.
Staghorn stones are branching and usually infected stones that cover a
large part of the collecting system (2). Failure to achieve stone-free
status may lead to the complete loss of function and sepsis in the
kidney by destroying the renal parenchyma. Guidelines recommend
percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) as the standard treatment modality
for renal stones > 2 cm (3). Success in patients with PCNL
reach 96.1% (4). However, since multiple percutaneous accesses may be
required to remove all stone branches in staghorn stones, it is very
difficult to achieve success in these patients (5). Therefore, as
reported in previous studies, stone-free rates in staghorn stones can
decrease to 56.9% (6). In addition to these low stone-free rates after
PCNL, staghorn stones also have high complication rates. In a
prospective randomized study, the intraoperative complication rate of
PCNL applied in the treatment of staghorn stones was found to be 16.3%,
and the postoperative major complication rate was determined as 18.6%
(7)
There are concerns related to the safe applicability of PCNL in
geriatric patients, who have bleeding tendency and low cardiopulmonary
performance. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare the results
between elderly and younger patients who underwent PCNL for staghorn
stones.