Differences in Clinical Outcomes between One-Stage and Staged Flexible Ureteroscopy for the Treatment of Upper Urinary Tract Stones.

Objective: Upper urinary tract stones (UUTSs) are among the most common types of urinary stones, and their incidence rate has been increasing annually in recent years, seriously affecting the daily lives of patients. This study aimed to compare the treatment efficacy of one-stage and staged flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy (FURL) for UUTSs.

Methods: A total of 142 patients with UUTSs admitted to our hospital between December 2019 and March 2023 were selected for retrospective analysis, including 76 patients who received staged FURL (control group) and 66 patients who received one-stage FURL (observation group). The duration of surgery, length of stay, stone clearance rate, incidence of postoperative complications (from postsurgery to discharge), and total hospitalization cost were analyzed in both groups. The visual analog scale (VAS) score and activities of daily living (ADL) score were assessed before surgery (T0), 3 days after surgery (T1), and 7 days after surgery (T2). Patients were followed up for 1 month after surgery, and their quality of life was assessed using the MOS Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).

Results: There was no difference in the stone clearance rate or incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups ( > 0.05). The operation time, hospitalization time and hospitalization cost in the observation group were 75.58 ± 15.91 min, 4.20 ± 1.24 days and 14312.62 ± 1078.89 yuan, respectively, which were lower than those in the control group ( < 0.05). In addition, the VAS score at T3 was decreased to 1.49 ± 0.70, while the ADL and SF-36 scores were higher in the observation group ( < 0.05).

Conclusions: One-stage FURL shortens the duration of surgery and length of stay, reduces hospitalization costs, and improves the quality of life of patients with UUTSs.