Tamsulosin as medical expulsive therapy for lower ureterolithiasis: A meta-analysis

Abstract

ObjectiveTo review the evidence for tamsulosin as medical expulsive therapy in enhancing the effectiveness of distal ureteral stone clearance rate. MethodsWe searched Pubmed/Medline, Embase, CBM and the Cochrane Library up to October 2011. All randomized controlled trials in which tamsulosin was evaluated with distal ureterolithiasis were eligible for the analysis. Outcome measure assessed was stone clearance rate. Two authors independently assessed study quality and extracted data. All data were analyzed using RevMan 5.1. ResultsThirteen studies involving 1067 participants met the inclusion criteria. Study duration ranged from 7 to 42 d. The pooled analysis showed an improvement of 41% in stone clearance rate of tamsulosin as medical expulsive therapy for distal ureteral calculi (RR=1.41, 95%CI=1.18 to 1.70). According to stone size (6 mm<size<10 mm, 5 mm<size<6 mm, size <5 mm), the pooling effects of tamsulosin were analyzed, with a higher stone expulsion rate obtained than control (RR=1.52, 1.75, 1.05, 95%CI=1.30 to 1.77, 1.25 to 2.45, 0.95 to 1.16, respectively). Adverse effects of tamsulosin, mainly retrograde ejaculation, dizziness and hypotension, were reported in 7 included trials. ConclusionTreatment with tamsulosin appears to be a safe and effective medical expulsion therapy for distal ureterolithiasis. To make a definite clinical recommendation to use tamsulosin as medical expulsive treatment for distal ureteral calculi, high quality multicentric, randomized, double blinded, controlled trials are necessary to prove its efficacy.