Comparison of Ultrasound and Fluoroscopy in PCNL

The initial screening of studies was carried out by two reviewers independently based on titles and abstracts to exclude non-related studies. The full text of related studies was then reviewed for confirmation of eligibility criteria meeting and data extraction. The data extraction of each study using an Excel-based sheet were checked and discussed by two reviewers independently. The data sheet included the first author names, type of studies, year of publications, number of patients in ultrasound and fluoroscopy group, patients’ characteristics, SFRs, PCNL techniques, multiple stone status, stone burden, hydronephrosis degree, ultrasound probe, sheath size, dilator, complication rate, surgery time and Hb decrease after the surgery. The methodological quality of the included studies was independently assessed by two reviewers using the national institute of health (NIH) quality assessment tool for cohort studies [13 ] and the risk of bias (RoB2) method of the Cochrane Collaboration for RCTs [14 (link)].