Can Sexual Intercourse Be an Alternative Therapy for Distal Ureteral Stones? A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Study

Abstract

To investigate the effect of sexual intercourse on spontaneous passage of distal ureteral stones. The patients were randomly divided into 3 groups with random number table envelope method. Patients in group 1 were asked to have sexual intercourse at least 3-4 times a week. Patients in group 2 were administered tamsulosin 0.4 mg/d. Patients in group 3 received standard medical therapy alone and acted as the controls. The expulsion rate was controlled after 2 and 4 weeks. Differences in the expulsion rate between groups were compared with the chi-square test for 3 × 2 tables. P <.05 was considered as statistically significant. The mean stone size was 4.7 ± 0.8 mm in group 1, 5 ± 1 mm group 2, and 4.9 ± 0.8 mm group 3 (P = .4). Two weeks later, 26 of 31 patients (83.9%) in the sexual intercourse group, and 10 of 21 patients (47.6%) in tamsulosin group passed their stones, whereas 8 of 23 patients (34.8%) in the control group passed their stones (P = .001). The mean stone expulsion time was 10 ± 5.8 days in group 1, 16.6 ± 8.5 days in group 2, and 18 ± 5.5 days in group 3 (P = .0001). Our results have indicated that patients who have distal ureteral stones ≤6 mm and a sexual partner may be advised to have sexual intercourse 3-4 times a week to increase the probability of spontaneous passage of the stones.