摘要
Background The coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic has posed challenges to the global health care community,affecting the management of upper urinary tract stones.Materials and methods This retrospective study involved 9 Italian centers.We compared the 12-month period prior to COVID-19(March 1,2019,to February 28,2020;Period A)with the COVID-19 period(March 1,2020,to February 28,2021,Period B).This study aimed to compare outcomes during Periods A and B,specifically focusing on the overall number of treatments,rate of urgent/elective cases,and operational complexity.Results A total of 4018 procedures were collected,comprising 2176 procedures during Period A and 1842 during Period B,indicating a loss of 15.35%(p<0.001).In the elective cases,1622 procedures were conducted in Period A,compared with 1280 in Period B,representing a 21.09%reduction in cases(p=0.001).All types of stone treatments were affected:extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy(−29.37%,p=0.001),percutaneous nephrolithotomy(−26.47%,p=0.008),retrograde surgeries for renal stones(−10.63%,p=0.008),and semirigid ureterolithotripsy(−24.86%,p=0.008).Waiting lists experienced significant delays during Period B.The waiting time(WT)for elective procedures increased during Period B(p<0.001).For ureteral stones,the mean WT in Period A was 61.44 days compared with 86.56 days in Period B(p=0.008).The WT for renal stones increased from 64.96 days in Period A to 85.66 days in Period B for retrograde intrarenal surgery(p=0.008)and from 96.9 days to 1103.9 days(p=0.035)for percutaneous nephrolithotomy procedures.Conclusions Our study demonstrates that COVID-19 significantly disrupted endourological services across the country.Our data underline how patients received treatment over a prolonged period,potentially increasing the risk of stone-related complications and patient discomfort.
