Anesthesia in Mini-PCNL

Mini-PCNL, by virtue of being a less invasive procedure could reduce the risks involved with anesthesia. Concerns related to comorbidities of the patient remain the same. Lower surgical stress, blood loss, and pain could be beneficial resulting in a shorter hospital stay. But these could be confounded by the duration of the procedure and the complexity of the stone. Mini-PCNL in supine position offsets the disadvantages of prone position and gives the choice of spinal anesthesia for the procedure. Local anesthetic techniques including the ultrasound-guided truncal blocks are evolving as an option for these procedures. Use of supine position over prone position, flexibility to choose from among general, spinal and local anesthesia, lesser surgical invasion resulting in lower stress response and pain, and faster recovery after mini-PCNL may favor better anesthetic outcome.