Combined laparoscopic and percutaneous management of calcified renal hydatid cyst--a novel nephroscope- and lithotripter-assisted technique.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the novel technique of percutaneous nephroscope-assisted renal hydatid cyst evacuation and lithotripter-assisted division of the cyst wall for combined laparoscopic and percutaneous management. METHODS: A calcified hydatid cyst of the kidney is a rare entity and needs special techniques for total laparoscopic management. A 45-year-old woman was treated successfully for a calcified renal hydatid cyst using the transperitoneal laparoscopic technique. A chlorhexidine gluconate and cetrimide mixture was used as the scolicidal solution to sterilize the cyst. The endocyst and daughter cysts were removed completely under vision, after placement of a single 26F nephroscope through a 10-mm port in the cyst, with grasper and lithotripter suction, using chlorhexidine-cetrimide mixture irrigation. Laparoscopic suction did not work well for the viscous contents. The calcified cyst wall did not yield to electrocautery or piecemeal fragmentation, until weakened by division and fragmentation using the pneumatic lithotripter. Partial cyst wall exicision/marsupialisation was complemented with omentoplasty. RESULTS: No intraoperative or early postoperative complications occurred. The patient recovered well with little pain and was discharged early. This technique, in which the principles of percutaneous nephrolithotomy were applied for a special problem, is the first of its type. CONCLUSION: Calcified renal hydatid cyst evacuation using the novel nephroscope-assisted retrieval of contents and lithotripter-assisted division of the calcified wall is a safe and feasible technique for total minimally invasive management.