The role of preoperative ureteral stenting in retrograde intrarenal surgery in renal stone patients: a propensity score-matched study

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of preoperative ureteral stenting on retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS). Methods We retrospectively analyzed RIRS cases from October 2014 to June 2017. Patients were divided into two groups according to preoperative ureteral stent insertion. The characteristics of the patients [age, body mass index (BMI), sex, previous disease history, hemoglobin, creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)], characters of stone (size, number, density, location), ureteral access sheath (UAS) success rate, perioperative complication, operative time, hospitalization time, period with stent, postoperative urinary tract infection (UTI) rate, stone free rate (SFR), and additional treatment rate were analyzed. Results RIRS was performed for 122 patients. Seventy-three patients had preoperative ureteral stents before RIRS, while 49 patients did not have preoperative ureteral stents. The median size of the stone was 14.5 mm. Overall SFR was 87.7%. Preoperative eGFR was relatively high in patients who underwent preoperative stenting (68.18 vs. 79.01 mL/min/1.73 m2, P=0.042). Preoperative stenting led to improvement in the success rate of UAS insertion (97.3% vs. 87.8%, P=0.038) during surgery. Before and after propensity score matching revealed a significant difference in operation time when the diameter of the stone was smaller than 1 cm (P=0.019 and P=0.004). However, there was no significant difference in operation time, postoperative UTI rate, additional treatment rate, or SFR. Conclusions Preoperative ureteral stenting can facilitate UAS insertion, and reduce operation time in RIRS for stones with a diameter less than 1 cm.