Emergency management of ureteral stones: Evaluation of two different approaches with an emphasis on patients' life quality.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the emergency management of obstructing ureteral calculi with two different techniques (SWL and URS) with an emphasis on patients life quality. METHODS: A total of 80 patients presenting with acute colic pain due to a single obstructing ureteral stone were treated within 24 hours following the onset of pain with two different approaches in a randomized manner. Patients requiring DJ stent placement and/or auxiliary measures after both procedures were excluded and the remaining 65 patients were evaluated [Group1: ESWL (n = 34); Group 2: URS (n = 31)]. Patients were followed during 4-weeks period with respect to the analgesic requirement, number of renal colic attacks and emergency department visits along with the HRQOL scores. RESULTS: While 26 patients treated with URS (83.9%) were stone-free, 24 cases in SWL were stone-free (70.6%) after 4 weeks. Evaluation of the cases during this follow-up period demonstrated that cases undergoing SWL required significantly higher amount of analgesics when compared with URS group (p < 0.001). In addition to the lower mean number of renal colic attacks and emergency department visits in URS group; both the mean HRQOL in terms of EQ-5D index and mean EQ-5D VAS values were also significantly higher in these cases when compared with the cases tretaed with SWL. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the negative impact of stone related events after emergency SWL on patients HRQOL, emergency URS may be applied more effectively with the advantages of prompt fragmentation of the calculi along with the immediate relief of obstruction and pain.

A modified technique for real time ultrasound guided pediatric percutaneous renal biopsy: the angled tangential approach.

AIM: Pediatric renal biopsy may result in serious hemorrhagic complications, requiring additional diagnostic procedures, blood transfusion, vascular interventions, and prolongation of hospitalization. The aim of the present study was to propose the angled tangential approach technique for real-time ultrasound-guided pediatric percutaneous renal biopsy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 166 percutaneous biopsies from June 2004 to May 2009 was performed. Patients' medical records, pathology results, and complications were reviewed. RESULTS: No major complications were seen in the study group. The most frequently occurring minor complication was macroscopic hematuria, which occurred at the rate of 9.6%. Hematoma was detected in three cases and regressed spontaneously in all cases. CONCLUSIONS: The angled tangential approach is a safe technique and an alternative option in pediatric percutaneous renal biopsies.

Correlation between computerized tomography density measurements of urinary bladder and urinalysis results.

Our aim was to investigate whether there is a correlation between computerized tomography (CT) density measurements of the urinary bladder and urinalysis results. Patients were subdivided into three groups with respect to urinalysis results: Group 1, no leukocytes or erythrocytes detected in urine (n=25); Group 2, erythrocytes detected in urine (n=50); and Group 3, leukocytes and erythrocytes detected in urine (n=98). In CT sections, densitometric measurements had been performed from three zones on each section and groups were compared in terms of densitometry results. Our results indicate that density measurements of CT views form the urinary bladder may provide valuable data on hematuria and leukocyturia.