A Cheap Minimally Painful and Widely Usable Alternative for Retrieving Ureteral Stents

Abstract

Objective: To describe a cheap, minimally painful and widely usable method for retrieving ureteral stents by using an ureteroscope. Subjects and Methods: Sixty-seven patients with ureteral stents were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomized into a cystoscopic (35 patients) and a ureteroscopic (32 patients) group. All stents were retrieved by a flexible cystoscope in the first group and by a ureteroscope in the second group under local anesthesia. Patients in each group were assessed for stented time, stent side, cause of stent placement, operative time, peroperative pain, postoperative pain, irritative voiding symptoms and hematuria. Also costs of instruments were calculated. Results: Stents were successfully retrieved in 67 patients. There were no statistical differences in the two groups regarding patient gender and age or stent side, operative time, stented time, mean operative pain score, irritative voiding symptom scores and hematuria. Total selling price was USD 20.399 for flexible instruments and USD 10.516 for rigid ones. Total maintenance price was higher in flexible instruments than in the rigid ones (USD 197.8 and 51.7 per use, respectively). Conclusion: Ureteroscopic stent retrieval is a minimally painful, safe and highly tolerable method under local anesthesia as well as flexible cystoscopic retrieval. Also, it is a cheap and widely usable method.