PCNL

PCNL is performed under general anesthesia with the patient lying face down
on their abdomen. Once anesthesia is administered, your surgeon will perform
cystoscopy (telescopic examination of your bladder) and instill xray dye or carbon
dioxide into your kidney through a small catheter placed up through the ureter or
drainage tube of the affected kidney to “map” the branches of the collecting system.
This allows your surgeon to precisely locate the stone within the kidney and place a
small needle through the skin under xray guidance to directly access the stone.