Re: Abbreviation of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: PCNL or PNL? (From: Söylemez H. J Endourol 2016;30:830)

Dear Editor:

The author of the mentioned letter to the editor suggests caution for the use of abbreviations for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL or PCNL) similar to that of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. ¹

The use of the abbreviation “SWL” instead of “ESWL” does to our knowledge apply to the United States only and has legal reasons, therefore, cannot be compared with the alternative use of “PNL” or “PCNL.” Searching for “PNL” in PubMed will indeed lead to more results than searching for PCNL.

The author mentions the European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines on Urolithiasis ² as the most striking (negative) example. The panel of the EAU Guidelines on Urolithiasis decided to use PNL all over the particular guideline. The author might have overseen that “PCNL” is only used once in the text of the guideline (Chapter 2.1) referring to the title of an already prior registered trial of a systematic review. As usual, titles of reviews or references cannot be changed.

Nevertheless it is important to keep in mind that the shorter an abbreviation is, the more misleading interpretations are possible like for instance the use of PNL for Pencilluim notatum lipase (PNL). ³ Also the panel of the EAU Guidelines on Urolithiasis and the authors of both letters to the editor support the abbreviation PNL, it is important to carefully plan scientific searches for reviews and not rely on an abbreviation. ⁴