Effect of Tamsulosin 0.2 mg on the Short-Term Treatment of Urinary Stones: Multicenter, Prospective, Randomized Study

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We evaluated the effect of tamsulosin for the short-term treatment of urinary stones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty-seven patients who were diagnosed with urinary stones were enrolled in this prospective, randomized multicenter study. The treatment and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) group (Group 1, n=115) was given diclofenac sodium 100 mg plus tamsulosin 0.2 mg for 1 week. The control and SWL group (Group 2, n=92) was given diclofenac sodium for 1 week. The treatment and no SWL group (Group 3, n=19) was treated the same as Group 1. The control and no SWL group (Group 4, n=21) was given diclofenac sodium only. Patients in Groups 3 and 4 did not want to take SWL treatment. The size of the stone, expulsion rate according to stone location and ESWL machines, changes in pain score, and distance of stone migration when expulsion of the stone failed were compared among the groups. RESULTS: There were no differences in the 4 groups in sex or stone size. The stone expulsion rate of lower ureter stones in group 1 (59.6%) was significantly higher than in group 2 (30.8%) (p=0.01). The distance of stone migration in group 3 was longer than that in group 4 (5.63+/-5.48 cm compared with 0.33+/-0.68 cm; p=0.002). Although the difference was not significant in the SWL groups, the distance of stone migration in group 1 was longer than that in group 2 (7.08+/-6.9 cm compared with 5.46+/-7.4 cm; p>0.05). There were no significant differences in changes on the pain scale among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that adjunctive medical therapy for 1 week with tamsulosin after SWL increases the stone expulsion rate of lower ureteral stones and increases the distance of stone migration in case of failure of stone expulsion.