Effect of JJ stent on outcomes of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy treatment of moderate sized renal pelvic stones: A randomized prospective study.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of JJ stents on SWL treatment of moderate (15-25mm) renal pelvic stones.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2016 and December 2017, a total of 152 adult patients who were planned to undergo SWL for a single radiopaque renal pelvic stone were included in the study. Patients with solitary kidney, congenital abnormality, skeletal tract abnormalities, previous urinary system surgery, hydronephrosis (grade 2 or more), untreated urinary tract infection, bleeding disorder, and suspected pregnancy were excluded. The remaining 114 patients were randomly divided into two groups; non-stented and stented. Twenty-two patients whose stone could not be fragmented despite 3 consecutive sessions were also excluded from the study. A total of 92 patients (54 non-stented and 38 stented) were included in the final analysis.

Results: There was no significant difference in terms of age, sex, body mass index, renal parancyhimal thickness, hydronephrosis, skin-to-stone distance, Hounsfield units, and stone size between the groups. Success was significantly higher in the stented group than in the non-stented group (71% vs. 39%, P=.002). In stone-free patients, the number of emergency department visits and analgesic tablet consumption was significantly lower in the stented group than in the non-stented group (P<.001 and P<.001, respectively). In non- stone-free patients, analgesic tablet consumption was significantly lower in the stented group than in the non-stented group (P=.004).

Conclusions: Pre-stenting before SWL treatment of moderate sized renal pelvic stones has some advantages in terms of success, emergency service visits, and analgesic tablet consumption.