The Varying Success of Ureteroscopic Removal of Stone (URS) in Relation to the Different Locations and Sizes of Upper Ureter Stones

Chung, Han Soo; Kim, Han Kwun; Park, Chang Myon

Abstract

PURPOSE: There has been a recent trend of using ureteroscopic removal of stone (URS) for treating upper ureter stones, due to its safety and success rate; therefore we attempted to find the varying success of URS for different locations and sizes of upper ureter stone.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
107 patients with upper ureter stones, who were treated with URS in our hospital, between January 2000 and May 2005, were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were classified into three groups according to the locations (named L3, L4 and L5) and sizes (<10mm and > or=10mm) of the upper ureter stones.
RESULTS
The overall success rate of URS was 71.0%. With regard to the three locations, L3 had a 46.3% success rate, while L4 and L5 had success rates of 76.9 and 92.5%, respectively. The success rates of URS were significantly higher in L4 and L5 locations compared with that in L3 (p<0.05). In addition, the success rates of URS for stones equal to or larger than 10mm and less than 10mm were 59.5 and 78.5%, respectively, with the former being significantly lower than the latter (p=0.036).
CONCLUSIONS
The success rates of URS were significantly higher when the location of upper ureter stones was lower than L4 and when the size of the stone was less than 10mm. Therefore, both the location and size of the stones are important factors potentially influencing the outcome of URS for upper ureter stones.