Pain most frequent cause of ER visits post ureteroscopy

(HealthDay)—Most patients who present to the emergency department after undergoing elective ureteroscopy complain of pain alone, according to a study published in the May issue of The Journal of Urology.

Jonathan Bloom, M.D., from New York Medical College in Valhalla, and colleagues conducted a retrospective chart review from 2010 to 2014 of all elective ureteroscopies at a single tertiary hospital serving an underserved population. The author collected and analyzed demographic, operative, and discharge characteristics for 276 ureteroscopies.

The researchers found that 15.6 percent of ureteroscopy patients presented to the emergency department within 30 days; 5.8 percent were readmitted. Readmitted patients were more likely to have hypertension, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, two or more comorbidities, or a complication linked to ureteroscopy (odds ratios, 3.64, 5.54, 3.65, and 7.27, respectively). Patients who sought care in the emergency department after ureteroscopy were less likely to have had a ureteral stent in place before ureteroscopy or an endoscopic procedure within the previous 30 days (odds ratios, 0.35 and 0.35). Most patients (about two-thirds) who presented to the emergency department had a complaint of pain alone, while readmitted patients most often complained of fever and pain (43.8 percent).

"The majority of emergency department visits after ureteroscopy were due to pain," the authors write. "These patients were less likely to have a preoperative ureteral stent placed or a history of recent urological procedures."

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