Purpose: The impact of drainage type after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been rarely studied. We conducted a prospective randomized study to evaluate the differences in HRQoL among patients who received different drainage types.

Methods: A total of 90 patients who underwent PCNL were randomized into three groups to receive a nephrostomy tube (Group 1), a Double-J (JJ) stent (Group 2), and an open-ended ureteral catheter (Group 3) after PCNL, respectively. We compared the perioperative characteristics, surgical outcomes, and HRQoL using Wisconsin Stone Quality of Life (WiSQoL) questionnaire among three groups.

Results: There were no significant differences in patients’ characteristics such as age, gender ratio, body mass index, stone burden, and so on. Majority of the surgical outcomes (operative time, estimated blood loss, hemoglobin drop, postoperative complications, and stone-free rate) were also comparable, except for the duration of hospitalization, visual analog scale, and analgesic required. The preoperative WiSQoL scores were similar among the three groups, but significant differences occurred postoperation (Groups 1, 2, and 3, 122.0 vs 105.6 vs 124.4, p < 0.001). Besides, patients in Group 2 had lower willingness (Groups 1, 2, and 3, 86.7% vs 70.0% vs 96.7%, p = 0.02) to undergo the same procedure as future treatment, if needed.

Conclusions: Our study suggested that the drainage types after PCNL using a nephrostomy tube or a JJ stent or an open-ended ureteral catheter were equally safe and efficacious, but patients who received a nephrostomy tube or an open-ended ureteral catheter had better HRQoL.