Effectiveness of Drainage of the Kidney by Percutaneous Nephrostomy Catheter Placement Vs. Retrograde Double J Catheter Placement in Patients With Symptoms of Obstructive Kidney Disease Caused by Urolithiasis

SUMMARY Rationale If a stone obstructs the ureter and impairs urine-efflux from the kidney this may cause infection, pain resulting from a renal colic and/or renal impairment. Drainage of the kidney may be necessary and can be established by placement of either a percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) or a retrograde double J catheter (JJ). Considering method of drainage, setting, room in which drainage procedures takes place and anesthesia method, there are in fact 16 different approaches for drainage available, each with its own consequences for the patient and on expenses. Although evidence is poor, both methods of drainage are to be considered as equal.[1] This is reflected by the differences in preference between different countries.[2] In 2016 the Dutch association for urology (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Urologie (NVU)) marked this subject as one of the primary knowledge gaps in urology in The Netherlands and gave it priority on the national knowledge agenda for urology.[3] From patients' as well as from societal perspective it is of importance that the decision for placement of either PCN or JJ will be made based on evidence based arguments and in a uniform way.

Hypothesis: Percutaneous nephrostomy is non inferior to retrograde double J catheter regarding time to clinical recovery. Secondly, patient reported outcome measures (PROMS) comparing treatment room and OR settings of drainage procedures will most likely not be significantly different.

Finally, because percutaneous nephrostomy catheters are more often placed in a (outpatient) urological or radiological treatment room, this is expected to be less expensive than placement of a double J catheter (more often placed in the OR). Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of percutaneous nephrostomy catheter placement versus retrograde double J catheter placement in patients with symptoms of obstructive kidney disease (with either infection and/or pain and/or kidney function deterioration) caused by urolithiasis.

Study design: Multicenter prospective randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.

Study population: Male and female adult patients with signs of obstructive kidney disease with kidney or ureteral lithiasis as an underlying cause and with an indication for drainage based on symptoms of or laboratory tests indicating infection and/or pain and/or kidney function.