Julio Davalos, MD, head of Chesapeake Urology's Kidney Stone Disease Program, is performing a tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy which treats large kidney stones that are untreatable using an ESWL.
Tubeless PCNL has become a viable alternative to open surgery for removing kidney stones. Dr. Davalos is among a small number of urologists nationwide who are specially-trained to perform this procedure, according to a press release. Dr. Davalos has performed about 1,000 of these procedures.
In tubeless PCNL surgery, instead of leaving the drainage tube in the patient, the tract leading from the outside of the body through to the kidney is sealed using a designed plug that Dr. Davalos researched and developed.
"Surgery is only one step in a long journey to treating patients with stone disease. Identifying why patients make stones, complete metabolic management of patients and educating people about prevention of future stones is all part of our long-term approach and management of kidney stone disease," said Dr. Davalos.