Feasibility and safety of flexible ureteroscopy with intelligent control of renal pelvis pressure without urinary catheter: a retrospective study.

Background: To explore the feasibility and safety of aflexible ureteroscopy with intelligent control of renal pelvic pressure(FUS-ICP) without a post-operative indwelling urinary catheter .

Methods: In this retrospective study, we assessed patients with upper urinary tract stones who were treated with FUS-ICP at the Ganzhou People's Hospital from February 2022 to December 2023. Patients were divided into the non-urinary catheter (non-UC) and urinary catheter (UC) groups according to whether an indwelling catheter was used after surgery.

Results: In total, 142 patients were included in the study. There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the two groups. Patients in the non-UC group performed better than those in the UC group in terms of catheter-related bladder irritation (P = 0.001), the Sedation-Agitation Scale score (P = 0.012), and the numerical rating scale (P = 0.003). The incidences of urinary retention (P = 0.620), urinary tract infection (P = 0.529), and replacement of urethral catheter s (P = 0.438) in the UC group were inferior to those in the non-UC group, but there was no statistical significance.

Conclusions: It is feasible and safe to perform FUS-ICP without a post-procedure indwelling urinary catheter.