Safety and feasibility of flexible ureteroscopy in day surgery for patients with upper urinary calculus

Abstract

Objective To explore the safety and feasibility of flexible ureteroscopy in day surgery for patients with upper urinary calculus. Methods The records of 297 consecutive patient underwent flexible ureteroscopic procedures for upper urinary calculus from January 2016 to July 2017 at our institution were analyzed retrospectively. There were 141 cases for day surgery group and 156 cases for inpatient surgery group. Hospital stay, stone free rate, postoperative complications and overall costs were analyzed in each group. Results No significant differences were found in sex, age, stone diameter, body mass index, preoperation catheterization, and stone location between the day surgery group and the inpatient surgery group. The stone free rate was not different between the day surgery group and the inpatient surgery group (85.1% vs 85.9%, P=0.847). The complication rate of the day surgery group was lower than the inpatient surgery group (2.1% vs 5.1%), but the differences between the two groups weren't statistically significant (P>0.05). Shorter hospital stay was needed by day surgery group than inpatient surgery group. The day surgery group also benefited in overall costs [(14 946±2 302) RMB vs (15 568±2 364) RMB, P=0.022]. Conclusions Day surgery of flexible ureteroscopy is a safe and feasible procedure with advantages of shorter hospital length of stay, less need of overall costs, return more quickly to daily life, improving the utilization efficiency of medical resources, less risk of nosocomial and cross infection and better medical experience. Key words: Flexible ureteroscopy; Day surgery; Upper urinary calculus; Retrospective analysis