DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i05.001

Pages: 1672-1676

Ureteric stent removal is integral part of urological practice done mostly in outpatient basis. Stent removal with Flexible cystoscope (FC) is associated with higher costs. So, we designed this study to know the usefulness of Semirigid Ureteroscope as an alternative to Flexible cystoscope for Ureteric stent removal. We designed this study as prospective Randomised Single Blinded Trial. A total of 100 patients due for Ureteric stent removal under local anaesthesia (LA) were enrolled in study after informed consent. All patients were randomly assigned into two groups by block randomisation - Group 1 were stent removal done with Flexible cystoscope and in group 2 stent removal was done using Semirigid Ureteroscope. The main outcomes assessed included mean pain score on Visual Analogue Scale, operative time and operative difficulty as reported by surgeon. Patients were similar in demographic profile in both groups. Ureteric stents were successfully removed in all 100 patients. There was no significant difference in mean VAS score for pain in both groups (Group 1- 5.2 and Group 2 - 5.82 (p= 0.057). There was also no statistically significant difference in mean operative time and mean score of operative difficulty in both groups. On subgroup analysis of male patients (n=70) also, there were no statistically significant difference in above parameters in both groups. During entire study only one ureteroscope and one flexible cystoscope were used, but flexible cystoscope had to be repaired once due to failed leak test. Semirigid ureteroscope is a good alternative for removal of Ureteric stents under LA. It is equally effective, safe and has similar patient acceptability as compared to Flexible cystoscope. But it has less initial and maintenance costs. The trial was registered with Clinical trials registry of India (CTRI) with registration no CTRI/2014/03/004511.