Rigid ureteroscopic lithotripsy in the lateral decubitus position for upper urinary tract stones.

Background: The current study aimed to assess a novel ureteroscopic technique developed for treating upper urinary calculi based on a specially designed lateral decubitus body position that could avoid stone loss by adjusting to the effects of gravity.

Methods: This retrospective study examined patients with upper urinary calculi who were surgically treated from November 2008 to January 2020, using a new body position and a rigid ureteroscope. Clinical outcomes, stone-free rates, operative times and complications were evaluated, and factors that could influence treatment success were determined.

Results: In total, 1080 patients were included, and 1145 operations were performed. The maximum calculus diameters were 11.22 ± 5.01 mm. Operative times were 48.60 ± 27.44 min. A total of 1042 cases were successfully treated, with a stone-free rate of 91.00%. Multivariate analysis showed that female sex (OR = 2.135, 95% CI 1.332-3.422, P = 0.002), thin scope standby (OR = 1.643, 95% CI 1.074-2.514, P = 0.022), laser lithotripsy (OR = 5.087, 95% CI 2.400-10.785, P = 0.000) and stone size (OR = 0.946, 95% CI 0.912-0.981, P = 0.003) were independently associated with stone-free outcomes. In total, 2 ureteral perforations, 2 ureteric avulsions and 4 urosepsis cases were observed, but were all cured without sequelae.

Conclusions: Ureteroscopic lithotripsy in the lateral decubitus position is a safe and effective technique for treating upper urinary tract calculi, especially upper ureteral calculi.