Does tamsulosin or mirabegron improve ureteral stent-related symptoms? A prospective placebo-controlled study

Objective The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of tamsulosin or mirabegron on ureteral stent-related symptoms. Patients and methods This was a prospective, randomized, controlled, and single-blinded study. In total, 180 patients who had undergone ureterolithotripsy and ureteral stent insertion were included. Patients were randomly divided into three groups as follows: Group 1 was the control group taking placebo; group 2 was administered tamsulosin (0.4 mg) once a day; and group 3 received mirabegron (50 mg) once a day. The Turkish version of the ureteral stent symptom questionnaire was filled out after 4 weeks. Results After excluding patients who were lost to follow-up, 161 patients were included in the final analysis. Analgesic usage doses were lower in the tamsulosin (5.1 +/- 1.8) and mirabegron (4.5 +/- 1.4) groups than in the control group (5.9 +/- 2.1; P < .001). The urinary symptoms score was lower in tamsulosin group than it was in the control group (22.1 vs 27.8; P = .001); however, the other scores (body pain, general health, work performance, sexual matters, and other problems) were similar between the groups. Conclusions Tamsulosin improves only urinary symptoms due to the ureteral stent and decreases the need for analgesics. Mirabegron has no effect on ureteral stent-related symptoms, but it decreases analgesic need.