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About the Audit

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the removal of stones from the kidney or ureter using a small puncture in the skin of the affected side.  Small instruments are then passed to break up and remove the stones. PCNL can be done with the patient lying prone (face down) or supine (face up).

Click for information about kidney stones, causes and treatments or download the PCNL information leaflet.

The Section of Endourology Executive Committee has taken the decision to keep the first year's published data as simple as possible. We have, therefore, only listed the number of operations performed, together with blood transfusion rates and length of stay as the only outcome measures. 

Interpretation of the data

Because this is the first year of publication for PCNL data, there is insufficient information for risk adjustment, but this should be possible in future years. Risk adjustment will, eventually, allow us to publish more detailed information on the number of operations performed for different types of stone, or for more complex cases, and may also allow adjustment according to how ill the patient was prior to surgery.

The data presented is surgeon-reported, by entry into the BAUS Data & Audit System.  There is, therefore, no method for reliably validating the data other than by comparing with Hospital Episode Statistics (HES); unfortunately, HES data is not reliable for PCNL, because procedures are coded differently in some hospitals.  We are currently investigating how to make this coding more accurate in the future.

There are no financial incentives (or sanctions) for hospitals and Trusts to support collection of PCNL data, and this may also account for the data being incomplete.