Differences in Clinical Outcomes between One-Stage and Staged Flexible Ureteroscopy for the Treatment of Upper Urinary Tract Stones.

OBJECTIVE: Upper urinary tract stones (UUTSs) are among the most common types of urinary stones, and their incidence rate has been increasing annually in recent years, seriously affecting the daily lives of patients. This study aimed to compare the treatment efficacy of one-stage and staged flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy (FURL) for UUTSs. METHODS: A total of 142 patients with UUTSs admitted to our hospital between December 2019 and March 2023 were selected for retrospective analysis, including 76 patients who received staged FURL (control group) and 66 patients who received one-stage FURL (observation group). The duration of surgery, length of stay, stone clearance rate, incidence of postoperative complications (from postsurgery to discharge), and total hospitalization cost were analyzed in both groups. The visual analog scale (VAS) score and activities of daily living (ADL) score were assessed before surgery (T0), 3 days after surgery (T1), and 7 days after surgery (T2). Patients were followed up for 1 month after surgery, and their quality of life was assessed using the MOS Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). RESULTS: There was no difference in the stone clearance rate or incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups (p > 0.05). The operation time, hospitalization time and hospitalization cost in the observation group were 75.58 ± 15.91 min, 4.20 ± 1.24 days and 14312.62 ± 1078.89 yuan, respectively, which were lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the VAS score at T3 was decreased to 1.49 ± 0.70, while the ADL and SF-36 scores were higher in the observation group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: One-stage FURL shortens the duration of surgery and length of stay, reduces hospitalization costs, and improves the quality of life of patients with UUTSs.

Mechanism of lncRNA SNHG16 on kidney clear cell carcinoma cells by targeting miR-506-3p/ETS1/RAS/ERK molecular axis.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of long noncoding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) SNHG16 on kidney clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) cells by targeting miR-506-3p/ETS proto-oncogene 1, transcription factor (ETS1)/RAS/Extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) molecular axis, thus to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of KIRC in the future. Methods: Thirty-six patients with KIRC were enrolled in this study, and their carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues were obtained for the detection of SNHG16/miR-506-3p/ETS1/RAS/ERK expression. Then, over-expressed SNHG16 plasmid and silenced plasmid were transfected into KIRC cells to observe the changes of their biological behavior. Results: SNHG16 and ETS1 were highly expressed while miR-506- 3p was low expressed in KIRC tissues; the RAS/ERK signaling pathway was significantly activated in KIRC tissues (P < 0.05). After SNHG16 silence, KIRC cells showed decreased proliferation, invasion and migration capabilities and increased apoptosis rate; correspondingly, increase in SNHG16 expression achieved opposite results (P < 0.05). Finally, in the rescue experiment, the effects of elevated SNHG16 on KIRC cells were reversed by simultaneous increase in miR-506-3p, and the effects of miR-506-3p were reversed by ETS1. Activation of the RAS/ERK pathway had the same effect as increase in ETS1, which further worsened the malignancy of KIRC. After miR-506-3p increase and ETS1 silence, the RAS/ERK signaling pathway was inhibited (P < 0.05). At last, the rescue experiment (co-transfection) confirmed that the effect of SNHG16 on KIRC cells is achieved via the miR-506-3p/ETS1/RAS/ERK molecular axis. Conclusion: SNHG16 regulates the biological behavior of KIRC cells by targeting the miR-506-3p/ETS1/RAS/ERK molecular axis.