Impact of gender on success and complication rates after ureteroscopy

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the impact of gender differences on treatment success, intraoperative and postoperative complications in patients undergoing ureteroscopy (URS). Materials and methods: A prospectively maintained database of 927 consecutively performed ureteroscopies on solitary ureteral stones in four different centers was retrospectively analyzed. Stones were detected with preoperative computed tomography scans or intravenous urography imaging. Patients received intravenous antibiotics as perioperative prophylaxis. Patients with symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) prior to surgery were excluded. Follow-up was up to 2 weeks after URS or stent removal. Results: Two hundred and eighty-six women and 641 men were included in this study. Mean stone size was 9 mm (range 2–35 mm). A double-J stent was placed in 240 (83 %) women and 527 (82 %) men at the end of surgery (p = 0.075). There was no significant gender difference in terms of stent dislocation (p = 0.239). Two hundred and fifty-one women (87 %) and 564 men (87 %) were stone-free after the first procedure (p = 0.917). Intraoperative complications were observed in 14 (4.8 %) women and 37 (5.9 %) men (p = 0.313). Severe UTI presenting with fever (>38 °C) and requiring prolonged hospitalization with parenteral antibiotics were observed in 11 (3 %) women and 8 (1 %) men postoperatively. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.025). Conclusion: No significant differences between female and male patients harboring ureteral stones with respect to intraoperative complications were detected. Although stone characteristics were comparable between groups, a small number of women had significantly more severe UTI’s postoperatively. Our current therapy regimen for URS seems to be efficient and safe both for females and males.