Global Web Trends Analysis of Minimally Invasive Urinary Stone Treatment in the Last Decade and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With the rising incidence of urinary stone disease, web searches for stone treatments are increasing. Google Trends (GT) data for a 10-year period and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic were used to investigate the trend variations for the most popular minimally invasive stone therapies based on time and region. GT can create a line graph that shows how interest in various territories has risen or decreased over time. Search terms were generated for extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS), ureterorenoscopy (URS), and laparoscopic pyelolithotomy/ureterolithotomy. Using the "global" inquiry category, the data were included "worldwide" from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2021. In recent years, Google and YouTube searches for total minimally invasive stone treatments have increased. RIRS, URS, and PCNL trends revealed a substantial rise in the regression analysis (p < 0.05), but SWL trends showed a significant reduction (p < 0.05). RIRS was the main intervention with interest growing most over time. Web searches for stone treatments decreased in the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic. To a rising degree of involvement, patients and physicians from all over the world utilize the internet to search for minimally invasive stone operations. RIRS, URS, and PCNL are becoming more popular in web trends and SWL still has the highest trend despite the decline in popularity recently. The number of trustworthy web-based tools about stone treatments should be increased, and patients and physicians should be directed to these sources.

The impact of COVID-19 outbreak on urolithiasis emergency department admissions, hospitalizations and clinical management in central Italy: a multicentric analysis. / El impacto de la COVID-19 en las admisiones al servicio de urgencias, hospitalizaciones y manejo clínico de la urolitiasis en el centro de Italia: análisis multicéntrico.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate how the corona virus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak influenced emergency department (ED) admissions for urolithiasis, hospitalizations and clinical management of the hospitalized patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a multicentric retrospective analysis of ED admissions in three high volume urology departments (one directly involved in COVID-19 patients management and two not involved) in Rome - Italy between March and April 2020 and in the same period of 2019. Statistical analysis was conducted on the number of admissions for urolithiasis, rate of complications, hospitalization and the type of treatment received. RESULTS: 304 patients were included in the analysis. A significant reduction in the global number of patients admitted to ED for urolithiasis between 2019 and 2020 (48.8%) was noted. Moreover, regarding the choice of treatment of hospitalized patients, a statistically significant increase of stone removal procedures versus urinary drainage was reported in 2020 (p = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Rome there has been a significant reduction of emergency admissions for urolithiasis. Patients admitted to ED had more complications, more frequently need hospitalization and regarding clinical management early stone removal was preferred over urinary drainage only. All the urologists should be aware that in the next months they could face an increased number of admissions for urolithiasis and manage more complicated cases.