[A clinical study of bladder stone with spinal cord injury in subacute stage]

Bladder stones that form in patients with spinal cord injury in the subacute stage can cause significant morbidity. In this retrospective study, we investigated the factors associated with bladder stone formation. The study population consisted of 141 men and 24 women (median age: 59 years) who were admitted to our hospital for rehabilitation, from January 2005 to December 2006. We investigated urinary pH, bacterial species in urine and duration of indwelling urethral catheter in the acute stage after spinal cord injury. Thirty-one patients (16.3%) were diagnosed with bladder stones and underwent transurethral lithotripsy. Compared with patients without bladder stones, the duration of the indwelling catheter was longer in patients who bladder stones, but there was no difference between the two groups regarding urinary pH and the bacterial species found in urine. None of the patients for whom the duration of the indwelling catheter was less than a month developed bladder stones. These results suggest that long duration of the indwelling urethral catheter is a risk factor for the development of bladder stones. This information should be taken into account to reduce the occurrence of bladder stones and patients' morbidity.