Clinical and cost-effectiveness of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, flexible ureterorenoscopy and extracorporeal...

Renal tract stone disease is common. The three intervention options are shockwave lithotripsy, flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment and keyhole surgery.

To determine which of shockwave lithotripsy, flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment and keyhole surgery offer the best outcomes in terms of health and quality of life, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for people with lower pole kidney stones.

The PUrE study comprised two pragmatic multicentre, open-label, superiority randomised controlled trials: RCT1 for lower pole stones ≤ 10 mm and RCT2 for lower pole stones > 10 and ≤ 25 mm.

National Health Service Urology departments.

Adults presenting with lower pole renal stones, able to undergo any of the treatments and complete trial procedures.

Eligible participants were randomised in RCT1 to flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment or shockwave lithotripsy; and in RCT2 to flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment or keyhole surgery.

The primary outcome measure was health status 'area under the curve', measured weekly to 12 weeks post intervention with the EuroQol-5 Dimensions, five-level version. The primary economic outcome was the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained at 12 months from randomisation.

RCT1: A total of 461 participants were randomised: 231 to flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment; and 230 to shockwave lithotripsy. RCT2: A total of 159 participants were randomised: 73 to flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment; and 86 to keyhole surgery.

RCT1: The mean health status area under the curve was 0.807 (standard deviation 0.205) in the flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment group (n = 164) and 0.826 (standard deviation 0.207) in the shockwave lithotripsy group (n = 188). The between-group difference, 0.024 (95% confidence interval -0.004 to 0.053), was a small difference in favour of flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment after correcting for a baseline imbalance. Complete stone clearance was higher with flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment (72%) than shockwave lithotripsy (36%). RCT2: The mean health status area under the curve was 0.794 (standard deviation 0.198) in the flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment group (n = 57) and 0.818 (standard deviation 0.217) in the keyhole surgery group (n = 63). The between-group difference, -0.07 (95% confidence interval -0.11 to -0.02), was a borderline meaningful difference favouring keyhole surgery. Complete stone clearance was higher with keyhole surgery (71%) than flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment (48%).

RCT1: Flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment is more costly (£1138; 95% confidence interval £646 to £1631) and produces 0.017 (95% confidence interval -0.008 to 0.043) additional quality-adjusted life-years; with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £65,163 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Shockwave lithotripsy has a 99.9% chance of being cost-effective at a £20,000 threshold value. RCT2: Flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment is more costly (£733; 95% confidence interval -£508 to £1973) and produces fewer quality-adjusted life-years (-0.001; 95% confidence interval -0.044 to 0.042). Keyhole surgery has an 87% chance of being cost-effective at a £20,000 threshold value.

Blinding of participants and healthcare providers was not possible. There were differential waiting times between interventions in RCT1; however, adjusting for this gave similar treatment effect estimates.

The PUrE study found in RCT1 that shockwave lithotripsy was more cost-effective than flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment, with no meaningful difference in patient health status even though complete stone-free rates were higher with flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment. In RCT2, keyhole surgery was more cost-effective than flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment on a micro-costing basis, which better reflects treatment cost differences to the NHS. Keyhole surgery was marginally beneficial for health status with higher complete stone-free rates.

What effect will suction devices, improvements in laser technology, and intraoperative pressure monitoring have on postoperative pain, quality of life, stone-free rates, complications, and costs of flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment? What effect does miniaturisation of keyhole surgery have on postoperative pain, length of stay, complications, stone-free rates and costs?

This trial is registered as ISRCTN98970319.

This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 13/152/02) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 29, No. 40. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.