Surgical outcomes of patients who underwent retrograde intrarenal surgery using a ureteral access sheath to manage kidney stones sized 1–2 cm compared between patients who did and did not undergo preoperative ureteral stenting

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the surgical outcomes of patients who underwent retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) using a ureteral access sheath (UAS) to manage kidney stones sized 1–2 cm compared between patients who did and did not undergo preoperative ureteral prestenting. Materials and methodsThis retrospective cohort study included 166 patients (aged ≥18 years) who underwent RIRS at Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) during February 2015–February 2020. All patients had renal calculi (stone size: 1–2 cm) located within the pelvicalyceal system. 80 and 86 patients were allocated to the prestent and non-prestent groups, respectively. Patient baseline characteristics, renal stone details, operative equipment, stone-free rate (SFR) at 2 weeks and 6 months, and perioperative complications were compared between groups. ResultsAll patient baseline characteristics were similar between groups. At 2 weeks after surgery, the overall SFR was 65.1%, and the SFRs in the prestent and non-prestent groups were 73.4% and 59.5%, respectively (p = 0.09). At 6 months after surgery, the overall SFR was 80.1%, and the SFRs in the prestent and non-prestent groups were 90.7% and 79.3%, respectively (p = 0.08). The incidence of perioperative complications was not significantly different between groups. ConclusionsThere was no significant difference in the SFR between the presenting and non-prestenting groups at both the 2-week and 6-month postoperative time points. There was also no significant difference in intraoperative and postoperative complications between groups. The SFR was higher at 6 months than at 2 weeks in both groups with no additional procedure.