Abstract: PD35-12
Sources of Funding: none

Introduction

The comparative effectiveness of ureteral stents placed during ureteroscopy for urinary stone disease is widely debated. We sought to evaluate unplanned medical visits within the early post-operative period after ureteroscopy in patients with and without ureteral stent placement.

Methods

We identified all ureteroscopic procedures for urinary stone disease in the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) database from 2010-2012. The primary outcome was any emergency department visit or inpatient hospital admission in the first 7 days following ureteroscopy. Patients were sub-categorized by type of ureteroscopy (i.e. laser lithotripsy, basket retrieval, diagnostic) and analyzed for significant differences between stented and unstented patients. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine if ureteral stent placement was independently associated with unplanned visits.

Results

Our analytic cohort included 17,129 patients undergoing 18,860 ureteroscopy procedures. A ureteral stent was placed in 86.2% of patients undergoing laser lithotripsy, 70.5% of patients receiving basket retrieval, and 54.0% of patients undergoing diagnostic ureteroscopy. In the 7 days following ureteroscopy, 6.6% of patients were seen in the emergency department and 2.2% of patients were admitted. In a fully adjusted model, the utilization of a ureteral stent was not associated with emergency department visits or inpatient admissions.

Conclusions

Ureteral stent placement during ureteroscopy does not increase the odds of emergency department visits and inpatient admissions in the early post-operative period.

Funding

none