Ureteral stent related symptoms: A comparative study.

BACKGROUND: In urology, ureteral stents are used to treat obstructive diseases. Hematuria (54%), fever, discomfort, and lower urinary system symptoms are the predominant symptoms related to ureteral stent. AIM: This article links stent symptoms to double-j width and length, as well as patient's height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). Ureteric Stent Symptoms Questionnaire (USSQ) was used to measure ureteral stent symptoms at 1st and 4th week of stent in situ as well as the 4th week after pigtail removal. METHODS: A 200-patient prospective study, where patients were allocated into four groups following ureteral stent insertion depending on the stent characteristics. Those groups were: 4.8 Fr./26 cm (Group A), 4.8 Fr./28 cm (Group B), 6 Fr/26 cm (Group C), and 6 Fr/28 cm (Group D). RESULTS: Men comprised 53.5% of 200 patients. Participants had an average age of 49 ± 15.5 years, height of 175 ± 8.94 cm, and BMI of 23.8 ± 7.6 cm. The laboratory results were identical between groups. At the first and fourth week, groups had similar urine symptoms, pain severity, health status and occupational activities. The difference in pain location was statistically significant. Group A had 82.4% renal back pain in the first week, whereas Group B had 68.8%, Group C 31.3% and Group D 62.5 (p=0.04). At the fourth week, 64.7% of Group A patients reported kidney front pain, compared to 100% of Group B, 93.3% of Group C, and 100% of Group D (p=0.04). There was statistical significance in the sexual activity of the patients. 24.4% of Group C patients stopped sexual activity before stent installation, compared to 10.6%, 8.3%, and 6.4% of the other groups (p=0.03). A moderate percentage of patients had active sexual activity at week 4 (Group A: 7.8%, Group B: 5.8%, Group C: 8.2%, Group D: 4.1%), p=0.83. In multivariate analysis, urinary catheter group, age, weight, height, and BMI did not significantly affect urine index score (UIS), pain index score (PIS), general health (GH), quality of work (QW), and quality of sex (QS). CONCLUSIONS: Despite various attempts to establish the best ureteral stent, the effect of double-j stent physical features on stent-related symptoms remained unknown. No verdict is conceivable without adequate empirical data.

Frailty and benign prostatic hyperplasia: The thrilling underlying impact.

BACKGROUND: World population is aging. The number of individuals aged over 65 are expected to be 71 million only in the US. 43% of this population will be men. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), defined as the benign neoplasm of the prostate gland affects 8% of men by their forties, but 90% of men over 90 years old. Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can be caused by an enlarged prostate, and it seems to be associated more with older and frailer individuals. METHODS: The purpose of this study is to review the potential interplay between frailty syndrome and benign prostatic hyperplasia. A thorough MEDLINE/PubMed non-systematic literature review was conducted from 1990 to March of 2022. The terms used for the search were "frailty and benign prostatic hyperplasia" and "low muscle mass and benign prostatic hyperplasia". RESULTS: It seems that, frailty poses a negative impact on the prognosis of patients with BPH, as it is associated with increased incidence of LUTS. In addition, frailty seems to be a strong predictor concerning surgical procedure failure and mortality following invasive procedures for BPH. Prostatic stent placement on the other hand appears to be the ideal solution for frail patients. CONCLUSIONS: BPH has a strong association with frailty and increasing age.

Sarcopenia in Urinary Bladder Cancer: Definition, Prevalence and Prognostic Value in Survival.

Sarcopenia, defined as the systemic loss of muscle function and mass, is commonly seen in advanced oncologic states, usually in conjunction with cancer cachexia. Bladder cancer represents one of the most common neoplasms worldwide and affects mainly the elderly who are already frail. The purpose of this study is to review the potential association between sarcopenia and bladder cancer in patients receiving different types of treatments. A thorough MEDLINE/PubMed non-systematic literature review was conducted from 1990 to January 2022, using the following search terms: "sarcopenia and bladder cancer" and "low muscle mass and bladder cancer". Sarcopenia probably poses a negative impact on the prognosis of patients at any stage of bladder cancer, as it is linked with overall worse survival, cancer specific survival and progression-free survival in those treated, with either radical cystectomy or chemotherapy. In addition, sarcopenia seems to be a strong predictor concerning complications and a negative prognostic factor following chemotherapy and surgery for bladder cancer. On the other hand, it seems that sarcopenic patients who receive radiotherapy or immunotherapy are not so severely affected.