Background: The paper aimed at assessing the risk factors that can affect the final result of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) and ureterolithotripsy (URSL) in patients with a solitary kidney. Statistical analysis considered the impact of the patients’ age, gender and body mass index (BMI) on the safety of the minimally invasive procedures. To exclude the possibility of non-surgical complications after minimally invasive kidney surgeries, the intensity of lesions was assessed in the ASA system prior to surgery.

Material and methods: Fifty-one patients who underwent surgery between 1999 and 2008 in the Urology Department using PCNL and URSL due to calculi located in the pyelocalyceal system or in the ureter, were subjected to a retrospective assessment. All the patients had lost the contralateral kidney as a result of prior surgery. The assessment included 37 (72.5%) women and 14 (27.5%) men aged 28 to 72 (average age 53.5 ± 11.7). Patients’ age, gender and BMI, as well as the ASA system, were assessed and their impact on the presence of complications was analyzed.

Results: Thirty-four PCNLs were performed in patients with a solitary kidney, which constituted 66.7% of the total number of surgeries in that group. Seventeen patients required URSL, which was 33.3% of the total number of surgeries in that group. PCNLs and URSLs led to full recovery of 70.6% of patients. No complications were observed in 74.5% of patients with a solitary kidney but they occurred in 25.5% of patients. Treatment results and post-surgical complications were not affected by gender, age, excess weight or obesity and the ASA system.

Conclusions: Age, gender, BMI, and the surgical risk measured with the ASA system have no impact on the effectiveness and safety of PCNL and URSL in patients with a solitary kidney.