Efficacy of ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy combined with stone basket or NTrap in the treatment of upper urethral calculi

Abstract:

Objective：To determine the role of the stone basket or NTrap in blocking the upward movement of calculi during uretero－scopic lithotripsy. Methods：The clinical data of 192 patients who underwent ureteroscopic lithotripsy for upper urethral calculi from June 2011 to October 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were divided into three groups：62 patients who underwent ure-teroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy were assigned to Group 1，64 patients who underwent ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy combined with the stone basket were assigned to Group 2 and 66 patients who underwent ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy combined with the NTrap were assigned to Group 3. The operation time，hospitalization duration，success rate，and pre-and postoperative complications were compared retrospectively among three groups. Results：There was no significant difference among three groups in terms of mean age of the patients and the mean size of the calculi（P=0.058，P=0.097）. The mean operation time was （25.4±13.9），（36.5±10.6），（34.3±8.7） min respectively in Group 1，Group 2 and Group 3. The calculi retropulsion rate was 12.9%，4.6%，6.1% in Group 1，Group 2 and Group 3 respectively. The success rate of calculi removal was 82.2%，90.6% and 90.9% in Group 1，Group 2 and Group 3 respectively. The success rate of calculi removal was higher in Group 2 and Group 3 than in Group 1. There was no significant difference among three groups in terms of postoperative hospitalization duration and incidence of fever and urethra injury（P >0.05）. Conclusion：Stone basket and NTrap，used uring ureteroscopic lithotripsy，is considered to be an effective tool in blocking the upward movement of the calculi and is safe in calculi removal.