Evaluation of ureteral lesions in ureterorenoscopy: impact of access sheath use

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of ureteral lesions in retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) with and without the use of a 10/12 Fr ureteral access sheath (UAS). A further objective was to search for preoperative factors that could influence the risk of ureteral damage.

Data were collected from a clinical database on 180 consecutive adult patients undergoing RIRS for kidney stones with or without a 10/12 Fr UAS. The primary outcome measure was ureteral lesions endoscopically identified at the end of surgery using the Post-Ureteroscopic Lesion Scale (PULS) classification system.

The use of 10/12 Fr UASs resulted in less severe lesions than reported previously with larger diameter UASs. There was a higher risk of superficial lesions in the UAS group, with a calculated crude odds ratio (OR) of 1.84 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-3.37]. When adjusting for age and gender, the OR was 1.68 (95% CI 0.90-3.13; p = 0.10) and thus was not significant. The only factor that remained significant was age (OR =1.02/year, 95% CI 1.00-1.04).

There was a trend towards a higher risk of ureteral lesions in RIRS with a 10/12 Fr UAS compared with an endoscope alone, but when adjusting for age and gender the incidence of ureteral lesions was comparable between RIRS with and without the use of a 10/12 Fr UAS.