Comparative study of pneumatic lithotripsy and holmium laser lithotripsy for ureteral stones / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the efficacy and safety of endoscopic laser lithotripsy (LL) and endoscopic pneumatic lithotripsy (PL) for ureteral stones.@*METHODS@#We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 415 patients with ureteral calculi treated with endoscopic laser lithotripsy (n = 214 ) and pnumatic lithotripsy (n = 201 ).@*RESULTS@#The overall successful fragmentation rate of all ureteral stones in a single session of the LL group was higher than that of the PL group (95% vs. 69%, P < 0.01). The average stonefree time of the LL group was shorter than that of the PL group (18 days vs. 31 days, P < 0.01). No complications such as perforation during the operation were observed in the LL group whereas 3 perforations occurred in the PL group.@*CONCLUSION@#LL has its advantage over PL in its better clinical effect for the stone fragmentation and low complication rate and is an effective and safe treatment for ureteral stones.