Holmium laser lithotripsy with semirigid ureterorenoscopy in treatment of upper ureteral and renal pelvis stones under spinal anesthesia

Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy and especially flexible ureterorenoscopy (URS) are first-choice treatments of upper ureteral and renal pelvis stones. In our study, we aimed to demonstrate that the treatment of upper ureteral and renal pelvis stones smaller than 2 cm could be performed by semirigid URS under spinal anesthesia. The data of 292 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Stones were localized in upper ureter and renal pelvis in 191 (65.4%) and 101 (34.6%) patients, respectively. The stone-free rate was found to be 72.6%. The final stone-free rate was 95.2% after additional treatments administered to 80 patients with residues. While no peri-operative complication was observed, hematuria was observed in three patients during the post-operative period, high fever was observed in 27 patients and sepsis was observed in four patients. It is a well-known fact that flexible URS is the first-choice surgical method in the treatment of upper ureteral and renal pelvis stones. In the current study, we aimed to investigate whether laser lithotripsy with semirigid URS could also be a good and cheap alternative in clinical practice, and if upper urinary tract surgeries could be performed with spinal anesthesia especially in patients with a high risk of general anesthesia.