CT imaging to guide surgeons in performing ambulatory tubeless PCNL to remove kidney stones

Leading kidney stone surgeons from Chesapeake Urology in Westminster, Maryland, will be performing tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), a minimally invasive but complex technique, utilizing CT imaging to remove large kidney stones in an ambulatory surgery center.

Julio Davalos, MD, and Joel E. Abbott, DO, will be heading the surgical technique which is the first of its kind in the U.S.

Ambulatory tubeless PCNL means that it will be a same-day surgery and patients will not need to pay those hefty hospital bills to stay overnight, but instead recover in the comfort of their homes. 

A small incision will be made through the patients skin, as opposed to a more open invasive procedure. They will gain renal access, use CT imaging and real time fluoroscopy mapping techniques to guide them through removing the large kidney stone.

Davalos has performed more than 500 tubless PCNL surgeries and has a stone-free success rate of close to 100 percent. 

Jodelle joined TriMed Media Group in 2016 as a senior writer, focusing on content for Radiology Business and Health Imaging. After receiving her master's from DePaul University, she worked as a news reporter and communications specialist.

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