Clinical efficacy and safety of flexible ureteroscopy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy for large kidney stones: A retrospective comparative study.

Background: Renal stones ranging 20-40 mm are very common in China. Although no large-sample clinical studies have confirmed the clinical efficacy and safety of this method, there is also a lack of comparative data with traditional treatment.

Aim: To investigate the clinical efficacy of flexible ureteroscopy (FURS) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) by postoperative stone clearance and changes in soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1) and kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) levels in patients with large kidney stones (> 2 cm in diameter).