The Effect of Tamsulosin in the Medical Treatment of Distal Ureteral Stones

INTRODUCTION Renal stones are common disorders that affect approximately 5% to 10% of the population and the incidence of renal stones is rising. Treatment of ureteral stones is an important part of urologists and minimally invasive procedures such as ESWL and ureteroscopy effectiveness has been proven in various studies. However, these methods are not completely safe and are expensive and can be complicated. Purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of tamsulosin in the medical treatment of distal ureteral stones. PATIENTS & METHODS A total of 96 patients with distal ureteral stones or UVj are randomly divided into two study group (50 patients) and control group (46 patients). Patients in the control group allowed to freely consuming fluids (hydration) and indomethacin 100 mg PRN. Study group in addition to indomethacin and daily analgesic 0.4 mg tamsulosin was administered. All subjects in terms of analgesic dose, duration of expulsion and expulsion were studied. RESULTS Spontaneous expulsion of stone was occurred in 62.5% (30 patients out of 46) of control group patients and 82% (41 patients out of 50) that there was no significant difference (P>0.05). Average time to fix the stone in control group 4.7 ± 8.03 days (range 2 to 28 days) and in the study group, 3.7 ± 5.70 days (range 1 to 23 days) is significantly different (P>0.05). The average amount of analgesic consumption in the control group was 2.3 ± 4.31 and in the study group was 1.48 ± 2.15 that showed significant differences (P<0.05). CONCLUSION In this study, although the addition of tamsulosin to conservative treatment of distal ureteral stones in the distal ureteral stone expulsion showed no significant difference between the two groups, but the reduction in the duration of expulsion, reduce pain and reduce the need for analgesic has been beneficial.