Medical Expulsive Therapy of Single Distal Ureteral Stones

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Current therapeutic options for ureteral stones include active intervention as well as conservative "watch and wait" approaches. Endoscopic treatment of ureteral stones has a high success rate and reliably results in immediate stone removal However, surgical as well as anaesthetic risks are not negligible and serious complications are possible. For many patients, a conservative treatment is an appealing option. Watchful waiting, however, not always results in stone clearance and may be associated with recurrent renal colics.

The therapeutic potential of alpha-blockers for ureteral stone disease has been investigated prompted by the detection of alpha-receptors in ureteral smooth muscle cells. Blocking of such receptors, which are predominantly located in the distal part of the ureter results in relaxation of the ureteral wall and modulation of peristaltic activity. This mechanism has been proposed to facilitate stone passage for ureteral calculi.

Numerous clinical trials have revealed a significant improvement of the stone expulsion rate using the alpha-blocker tamsulosin. Most of these studies were randomised but none were performed in a double-blind and placebo-controlled fashion. Therefore, the objective of this trial was to evaluate the efficacy of medical expulsive therapy with tamsulosin in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled setting.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Placebo	Placebo	Placebo treatment
Tamsulosin	Tamsulosin	Tamsulosin treatment

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Participants With Stone Expulsion	21 days	The primary end point was the number of patients per group experiencing stone expulsion until day 21, as confirmed by low-dose abdominal computed tomography (CT).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Required Analgesics	Until stone expulsion or up to 21 days	Oral diclophenac (up to 3x50 mg pills) as first-line and oral metamizole (up to 8x 500mg pills)as second-line on-demand analgesics were prescribed. All patients were requested to record the required amount of pills per day
Maximum Daily Pain Score	Until stone expulsion or up to 21 days	All patients kept a diary to record the score of every painful episode on a 10-cm visual analogue scale (0= no pain at all; 10= strongest pain one can imagine).
Time to Stone Passage	21 days	The patient-defined time of stone expulsion was considered the event for time to stone passage. Patients with unnoticed stone expulsion were censored at the date of last positive stone status, and those who discontinued the therapy were censored at the date of last medication intake. Kaplan-Meier estimates were computed for time to stone passage.
Number of Participants Requiring Active Treatment	21 days	The number of participants requiring active treatment was recorded. Shock wave lithotrypsy (SWL), ureterorenoscopy (URS) or insertion of an ureteral catheter were considered as active treatment.