Table 1 Baseline characteristics of enrolled trials
Study | Country | Study design | PCNL patients | PCNL position | Lithotripsy technique | Outcomes | CEUS-PCNL technique | Contrast agent using | Follow-up time (day) | LE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CEUS-guided | US-guided | ||||||||||
Guo (2020) [8] | China | RCT | 30 | 30 | Prone | Holmium laser (Lumenis 60W, Germany) | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 | After general anesthesia and prophylactic use of antibiotics, each patient was placed in the lithotomy position. An open-ended 5-F ureteral catheter was placed retrograde into the ipsilateral proximal ureter up to 25 cm under ureteroscope guidance. The patient was then placed in the prone position | Sulfur hexafluoride microbubbles (SonoVue; Bracco, Switzerland) | 30 | 2b |
Liu (2022) [9] | China | RCT | 36 | 36 | Flank | NA | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 | Under general anesthesia and with the patient supine, an open-ended 6-F ureteral catheter was retrograde placed into the ipsilateral proximal ureter up to 25 cm under ureteroscopic guidance. Patients were then moved to a complete lateral decubitus position | Sulfur hexafluoride microbubbles (SonoVue; Bracco, Switzerland) | 28 | 2b |
Xia (2021) [10] | China | RCT | 78 | 76 | Prone | The laser energy used ranged from 30 to 60W (1.5–3.0 J*20 Hz) | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 | Under general anesthesia and with the patient supine, an open-ended 5-F ureteral catheter was advanced retrograde into the ipsilateral proximal ureter up to 25 cm under cystoscopic guidance | Sulfur hexafluoride microbubbles (SonoVue; Bracco, Switzerland) | 30 | 2b |
Liu (2021) [11] | China | RCT | 24 | 24 | Flank | Holmium laser (LUME.PK) | 1,2,4,5,6,7 | Under general anesthesia and with the patient supine, an open-ended 6-F ureteral catheter was retrograde placed into the ipsilateral proximal ureter under ureteroscopic guidance | Sulfur hexafluoride microbubbles (SonoVue; Bracco, Switzerland) | 7 | 2b |