Journal of Endourology

Urolithiasis is a common disorder born with the first hominids and the earliest texts describing symptoms date back to 3200 BC in Mesopotamia. The symptoms have always been the same, while the possibility of treatment has changed throughout the history. Gaius Plinius Secondus, known as Pliny the Elder, in his work "Naturalis Historia", described the pain produced by a urinary stone as an excruciating torment. When there was not an effective remedy, could this atrocious torment change the lives and choices of men? When the affected people were king, powerful or artists, could renal colic affect their political decisions or their artistic works? I answer positively to these questions...

Introduction and Objectives Mini-PCNL has gained popularity over the last decade due to its stone free rate comparable to traditional PCNL but with decreased risk of complications. While the data on mini-PCNL has been favorable thus far, no study today has evaluated outcomes in obese patients. Methods All patients undergoing mini-PCNL at our institution since we began its use in 2019 were included in this study. Mini-PCNL was defined as access sheath ≤ 22 French in size. An obese group with BMI ≥ 30 was compared to a non-obese group with BMI <30...

OBJECTIVE: Partial nephrectomy (PN) is one of the surgical treatment options for renal tumors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the surgical outcomes of retroperitoneal PN for anterior and posterior tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study enrolled 177 patients who had renal tumors that were detected on abdominal computed tomography and underwent PN between January 2017 and April 2021. Tumor position was defined by the anatomic avascular Brodel's line...

OBJECTIVE: to apply the Reverse Systematic Review (RSR) to compare three radical prostatectomies (RP) techniques: open (RRP), laparoscopic (LRP), and robotic (RARP) in relation to oncological outcomes: positive surgical margin (PSM) and biochemical recurrence rate (BCR). EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: a search was carried out in 8 databases between 2000 and 2020 through SR studies referring to RRP, LRP, or RARP (80 SR). All references used in these SRs were captured referring to 1,724 reports...

INTRODUCTION: Novel training modalities are being investigated to overcome the challenges associated with learning Retrograde IntraRenal Surgery (RIRS). Consequently, a series of 3D printed models of the upper urinary tract and stones designed for ex-vivo surgical simulation was introduced in 2021. This study aims to provide external validation of the training model and assess its role in the development of surgical skills. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mixed cohort of 20 urologists at different levels of expertise participated in a whole-day live simulation event to examine the model and perform a timed simulation of intrarenal navigation, stone relocation and laser fragmentation...

BACKGROUND: We compared outcomes of robotic simple prostatectomy (RASP) in patients with and without a history of prior prostate surgery for management of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed our multi-institutional database for all consecutive patients who underwent RASP between 05/2013 and 01/2021. Postoperatively, urinary function was assessed using the American Urological Association Symptom Score (AUASS) and Quality of Life (QOL) score...

Non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) relies on labour-intensive examinations of CT slices to identify urolithiasis in the urinary tract, so several algorithms including deep learning method were proposed for segmenting urinary stones. The most problematic point is that many non-stone objects were detected together. The proposed method is an end-to-end deep learning algorithm which could reduce these false positive effectively, and showed high segmentation performance. Automated segmentation is not only could reduce the detection burden, but also help physicians to determine the treatment strategy more precisely measuring the size, volume, stone-to-skin distance, mean stone density, etc...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP) performed using the KangDuo surgical robot system to the da Vinci Si robotic system in clinically localized prostate cancer (KD-RARP vs. DV-RARP). METHODS: A total of 16 patients underwent extraperitoneal KD-RARP performed by a single experienced surgeon using the KangDuo surgical robot system between May 2021 and August 2021. The data were prospectively collected...

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of anti-reflux ureteral stents on improving symptoms and quality of life of patients with ureteral stents. METHODS: We randomized 120 patients with urolithiasis who required ureteral stent placement after ureteroscopic lithotripsy, of which 107 (56 in standard ureteral stent group and 51 in anti-reflux ureteral stent) entered the final analysis. Severity of flank pain and suprapubic pain, back soreness during micturition, VAS, gross hematuria, perioperative creatinine increase, dilatation of the upper tract, urinary tract infection, and quality of life were compared between the two groups...

OBJECTIVES: to compare the outcomes of using low-power (up to 30W) vs high-power (up to 120W) holmium lasers in retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) in children and to analyse if lasering techniques and the use of access sheath have any influence on the outcomes. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data from 9 centres of children who underwent RIRS with holmium laser for the treatment of kidney stones between January 2015 and December 2020. Patients were divided into two groups: high-power and low-power holmium laser...

Objective: To evaluate the use of a new 16F mini-screwed sheath in pediatrics in comparison to a 16F ordinary Amplatz sheath. Methods: Sixty-seven patients <18 years with renal calculi between 1 and 2 cm who was a candidate for mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-perc) between January 2019 and September 2021 were randomized by closed envelope in group A (34 patients) using new mini-screwed sheath and group B (33 patients) with ordinary mini-sheath. Patients with contraindications for percutaneous nephrolithotomy were excluded...

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URSL) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in the treatment of complicated impacted proximal ureteral calculi using a new scoring standard. Methods: The data of 45 patients with complicated impacted proximal ureteral calculi (score ≥3 points) who underwent URSL were collected in this retrospective study between January 2015 and April 2021. The definition and scoring standards for preoperative high-risk factors associated with stones included whether the diameter of the stone was >2 cm, stone density was >1000 HU, there was a history of lithotripsy, the degree of hydronephrosis was greater than moderate, and there was an infection...

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of single port robotic transperitoneal (TP) and retroperitoneal (RP) partial nephrectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From September 2021 to June 2022, 30 sequential cases of partial nephrectomy performed after a single port (SP) robot was introduced to our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were diagnosed with T1 renal cell carcinoma and operated by a single expert in conventional robot with a da Vinci SP platform...

INTRODUCTION: Innovation of robotic surgery is still actively growing, and various novel robotic systems are in the process of development. The objective of this study was to assess the perioperative outcomes of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) using the hinotori surgical robot system, a recently developed robot-assisted surgical platform, for patients with small renal tumors. METHODS: This study prospectively included a total of 30 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with small renal tumors and subsequently underwent RAPN using hinotori between April and November 2022...

PURPOSE: To explore the preliminary safety and efficacy of the Shurui single-port surgical robot in partial nephrectomy. METHODS: This study prospectively enrolled patients with T1a renal tumours who met the inclusion criteria from February to July 2022 in The First Affiliated Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University. The operative outcomes and perioperative data, including clinical and histological data, were prospectively collected and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 13 patients were included in this study, including 7 males and 6 females...

PURPOSE: We aimed to make a general comparison between the safety and feasibility of a novel robotic platform, da Vinci® SP system with conventional robotic multi-port (MP) and laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) systems (da Vinci® Xi or Si) in three upper urinary tract procedures including robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN), robot-assisted pyeloplasty (RAP) and robotic adrenalectomy (RA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: After systematically searched the literature up to August 2022 in PubMed®, Web of Science™ and the Cochrane Library and Scopus® database, we extracted and processed the data in eligible literature for operative time, warm ischemia time (WIT), morphine milligram equivalent (MME), postoperative complications and positive surgical margins (PSM)...

No abstract available.

Objective To understand which attributes patients consider important when selecting treatment options for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) given differences in clinical and economic outcomes. Methods Men (n=170) with lower urinary tract symptoms due to BPH who underwent water vapor thermal therapy (WVTT) between April 2019 and November 2020 in a Toronto urological clinic were invited to participate in an online survey. The survey included eight attributes of BPH surgical procedures and five attributes of WVTT...

Introduction: This single-center experience describes the indications, novel technique, and outcomes of performing 14F super-mini percutaneous cystolitholapaxy (14F-SMPCCL). Materials and Methods: Cases between 2019 and 2022 were retrospectively identified with surgical outcomes recorded. Using percutaneous access to the bladder, an endoscope was inserted through the ClearPetra 14F super-mini sheath and laser lithotripsy completed with stone fragments suctioned out. Results: Sixteen cases were included in the study and all patients were adults...

Background: To study the predictors of sepsis and the progression of sepsis to septic shock in patients after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and to establish and validate predictive models. Methods: The patients were assigned to either the development cohort or the validation cohort depending on their hospital. In the development cohort, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to screen independent risk factors for sepsis after PCNL and sepsis progression to septic shock. Nomogram prediction models were established according to the related independent risk factors...