Published online Nov 6, 2014. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v3.i4.193
Revised: May 23, 2014
Accepted: August 27, 2014
Published online: November 6, 2014
Urinary tract stone disease is seen at a level of 1%-2% in childhood (< 18 years). In recent years, however, there has been a marked increased in pediatric stone disease, particularly in adolescence. A carbohydrate- and salt-heavy diet and a more sedentary lifestyle are implicated in this increase. Although stone disease is rare in childhood, its presence is frequently associated with metabolic or anatomical disorders or infectious conditions, for which reason there is a high possibility of post-therapeutic recurrence. Factors such as a high possibility of recurrence and increasing incidence further enhance the importance of minimally invasive therapeutic options in children, with their expectations of a long life. In children in whom active stone removal is decided on, the way to achieve the highest level of success with the least morbidity is to select the most appropriate treatment modality. Thanks to today’s advanced technology, renal stones that were once treated only by surgery can now be treated with minimally invasive techniques, from invasion of the urinary system in an antegrade (percutaneous nephrolithotomy) or retrograde (retrograde intrarenal surgery) manner or shock wave lithotripsy to laparoscopic stone surgery. This compilation study examined studies involving the RIRS procedure, the latest minimally invasive technique, in children and compared the results of those studies with those from other techniques.
Core tip: In the last two decades, technological advancement of instruments have changed the treatment options of renal stone disease. Today retrograde intrarenal surgery may represent an alternative treatment modality to shock wave lithotripsy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy, with acceptable efficacy and low morbidity in pediatric patients.