Comparison of Efficacy Between Flexible Ureteroscope Lithotripsy and Minimally Invasive Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in the Treatment of 2.0-3.0 cm Non-lower-pole Renal Stones in Elderly Patients
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of single-used flexible ureteroscope lithotripsy(FURL)in the treatment of 2.0-3.0 cm non-lower-pole renal stones in elderly patients.Methods A total of 78 elderly patients with non-lower-pole renal stones measuring 2.0-3.0 cm admitted to our hospital were included in this study.Based on the surgical procedure,the patients were divided into the FURL group(42 cases of FURL with holmium laser lithotripsy)and the MPCNL group[36 cases of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy(MPCNL)with holmium caser lithotripsy].Various parameters including operation time,stone fragmentation time,postoperative decrease of hemoglobin(Hb)level,postoperative Visual Analog Scale(VAS)for pain,hospitalization duration,stone-free rate(SFR)at 1 week and 4 weeks after surgery,secondary surgery rate,and incidence of complications were compared between the two groups.Results All the patients successfully underwent surgery.The decrease of Hb in the FURL group was(4.4±1.6)g/L,significantly lower than that in the MPCNL group[(24.7±4.6)g/L,t=-25.342,P=0.000].The postoperative VAS scores of the FURL group was(1.6±0.4)points,significantly lower than that of the MPCNL group[(5.6±0.9)points,t=-25.642,P=0.000].The stone fragmentation time in the FURL group was(82.5±10.2)min,significantly longer than that in the MPCNL group[(53.8±8.4)min,t=13.437,P=0.000].The operation time in the FURL group was(98.3±12.5)min,and there was no statistically significant difference compared to the MPCNL group[(96.7±11.8)min,t=0.555,P=0581].The hospitalization time in the FURL group was(3.5±1.5)d,significantly shorter than that in the MPCNL group[(8.6±1.7)d,t=-13.947,P=0.000].The incidence of complications in the FURL group was 26.2%(11/42),and there was no significant difference compared to the MPCNL group[27.8%(10/36),x2=0.025,P=0.875].The proportion of secondary treatment in the FURL group was 19.0%(8/42),and there was no significant difference compared to the MPCNL group[11.1%(4/36),x2=0.938,P=0.333].At 1 week after surgery,the SFR of the FURL group was 54.8%(23/42),significantly lower than that of the MPCNL group[86.1%(31/36),x2=8.943,P=0.003].At 4 weeks after surgery,there was no significant difference in SFR between the FURL group[90.5%(38/42)]and the MPCNL group[91.7%(33/36),x2=0.000,P=1.000].Conclusions Single-used flexible ureteroscope lithotripsy is highly effective in the treatment of non-lower-pole renal stones measuring 2.0-3.0 cm in elderly patients.It offers advantages such as minimal invasion,rapid recovery,minimal bleeding,low incidence of complications,and shorter hospitalization duration,which is worthy of promotion.