The stone surgeon in the mirror: how are German-speaking urologists treating large renal stones today?

Abstract

Objective: To elucidate the current treatment strategies of LRS in German-speaking Europe. Little is known about the treatment of large renal stones (LRS > 3 cm) in daily urological practice. LRS therapy can be, however, challenging and hazardous.

Materials and methods: A 39 item web-based survey was performed among urologists listed by the German, Austrian and Swiss Associations of Urology, addressing professionals treating LRS "on their own" and working in a German-speaking country. Uniparametric descriptions indicated as absolute numbers and percentages without p values, simple linear associations and bubble plots without arithmetic means or bar charts with standard deviation between targeted parameters and percentages were used.

Results: 266 of the 6586 responding urologists claimed to treat urinary stones on a regular basis. The majority of them were male (90.2%) and over 50 years old (42.9%). Most stones are treated in non-university hospitals (69.5%). 81.9% of all the institutions treat more than 150 cases/y. Open surgery is still performed in 45.5% of the centres, laparoscopy in 32%. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is the primary treatment option. Antimicrobial strategies vary considerably. Serious complications seem to be rare. However, quite a few responders reported treatment-related deaths. The main limitation is the absolute number of urologists performing LRS treatment, which is unknown.

Conclusions: The German-speaking urologist treating LRS is a male and over 50. Although he performs PNL primarily, he is not averse to open surgery and SWL. He applies guidelines and employs modern equipment. Only antimicrobial strategies are out of line with the international standards.

Keywords: Endourology; Kidney stones; Stone treatment; Urolithiasis; Web-based survey.