Nguyen Thanh Vinh

Purpose: Overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent and may influence the outcomes of surgical interventions for kidney stones. This study aimed to compare primary and secondary outcomes between normal-weight and overweight/obese patients undergoing flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy of kidney stones. Patients and Methods: A study was conducted on 114 patients (73 normal-weight, 41 overweight/obese) who underwent flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy for kidney stones. Primary outcomes included lithotripsy durations, hospital stay, and median stone size. Secondary outcomes included the stone-free rate, quality of life (QoL) scores, and complications. Results: No significant differences were observed between the two groups in surgery duration, lithotripsy duration, or hospital stay. While the median stone size at 1-month and 3-month postoperative was comparable between both groups, the stone size exhibited a significantly smaller size at 3 months (all p-values < 0.001). The stone-free rate at 3 months trended significance, with a lower rate in the overweight/obese group (93.2% vs 70.4%, p = 0.035). QoL significantly improved over time (p < 0.001), with most patients reporting no disruption to daily activities after 1 month in all patients. Conclusion: Overweight/obesity might influencing stone-free rate in patients undergoing flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy for kidney stones, despite similar perioperative outcomes. The flexible ureteroscopy lithotripsy is shown to be effective over time in reducing kidney stone size as well as postoperative QoL regardless of BMI. Further research is warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and optimize outcomes in this patient population.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of digital flexible ureteroscopy in the management of lower pole stones and to assess patients' postoperative quality of life. Methods: A longitudinal, single-center, nonrandomized cohort study was conducted on patients with renal calculi eligible for flexible ureteroscopy. The study population comprised 44 patients diagnosed with treatment of lower pole stones who underwent treatment at Bach Mai Hospital between January 2023 and October 2024. Surgical outcomes, including surgery duration, stone-free rate, duration of hospitalization, surgical complications, and quality of life, were evaluated and monitored during the follow-up period. Results: The mean age of the patients was 51.4 years, and the mean stone size was 13.7 mm. Immediately postoperative stone-free rates were 79.5 %, 77.3 % at 1-month and 68.2 % at 3-month. The mean operative time was 73.4 minutes, the lithotripsy duration was 55.7 minutes, and the average hospital stay was 5.7 days. Only 1 minor complication (2.3%) was recorded. The quality-of-life scores significantly improved over time (p < 0.001), with most patients reporting no disruption to daily activities after 1 month. Conclusions: Single-use digital flexible ureteroscopy is a safe and effective modality for managing lower pole renal stones, offering high stone-free rates, low complication rates, and significant improvements in patient quality of life. Further large-scale, controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings and evaluate long-term outcomes.