Study effectiveness of tamsulosin in the management of lower third ureteral stones with size 1cm or less

Abstract

Background: Ureteral stones are a common problem in daily emergency department practice, and medical therapy may be offered to facilitate stone expulsion in patients with distal ureteral calculi.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of tamsulosin in management of  lower ureteric stones  with size 1 cm or less.

Materials and Methods: This was an analytical comparative study (prospective) included 142 patients with stones in the lower third of ureter  at Tishreen University Hospital- Lattakia-Syria during one year period (2023- 2024). Patients were divided into two groups according to the method of management: group 1 included 71 patients who received treatment with tamsulosin and group 2 included 71 patients who didn't receive any therapy, in which final outcome were compared between two groups.   

Results: A total of  142 patients, 101 males (71.1%) and 41 females (28.9%) with a mean age of  37.66±14.6 years were included in the study. The stones were solitary in in 95.8%, multiple in 4.2%  with stone sizes less than 5 mm in 63 cases(44.4%). There were no significant differences between two groups regarding of age(p:0.6), sex(p:0.3), number of stones(p:0.6), and its size(p:0.2). The success rate of  stone expulsion was higher in tamsulosin group but without significant difference(87.3% versus 78.9%,p:.0.09). There were no significant correlation between size of stones and the rate of success in the two groups(p:0.07). In addition to, mean duration of  stones passage was significantly shorter in tamsulosin group(7.66±2.4 days versus  10.6±3.3 in placebo,p:0.01).   

Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that tamsulosin provides better stone expulsion in the cases of distal ureterolithiasis  without significant difference compared with placebo, but with minimum amount of time.