Deciding on a novel predictive value to gauge how well patients with lower ureteric stones respond to medical expulsive therapy.

Abstract

This study, conducted over 4years in Baghdad, Iraq, aimed to determine the importance of ureteric jet assessment in medical expulsive therapy (MET) for distal ureteral stones. A total of 156 patients with distal ureteral stones (≤ 10mm) participated, and their ureteric jets were observed using a color Doppler scanner before and after 2weeks of MET. The main focus was the success rate of stone expulsion. Our results showed that 50% of patients had detectable ureteric jets after 2weeks of MET, and 21.8% experienced successful stone expulsion. After 4weeks, 23.7% achieved stone expulsion, while 54.5% still had remaining stones. Patients who had a positive baseline ureteric jet were significantly more likely to successfully expel their stones. This study highlights the importance of monitoring ureteric jet movement in MET for distal ureteral stones.