Objectives: To analyze the early and late complications of indwelling ureteral stents in a series of 146 patients with nephroureteral lithiasis. Materials and Methods: 146 patients with obstructing nephrolitiasis were treated for urinary diversion with double pigtail ureteral stent before extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and following ureterorenoscopic treatment of lithiasis. All patients were scheduled for stent removal or replacement at specific 3-month intervals until stone-free status was achieved. Results: Early complications during the first 4 weeks after stent insertion were stent discomfort (37.6%), irritative bladder symptoms (18.8%), hematuria (18.1%), bacteriuria (15.2%), fever >104F (12.3%) and flank pain (25.3%); late complications included hydronephrosis (5.7%), and stent migration (9.5%), encrustation (21.6%), fragmentation (1.9%) and breakage (1.3%). Conclusions: Ureteral stents have proven to be an invaluable tool for endourologists. Morbidity is minimal for up to three months but longer indwelling times are associated with an increasing frequency of incrustation, infections, secondary stone formation and obstruction of the stented tract.

BACKGROUND:The efficacy of intravesical gemcitabine was evaluated compared with repeated administration of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) after BCG failure in high-risk, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (BC). METHODS: In this multicenter, prospective, randomized, phase 2 trial, eligible patients were those with high-risk non-muscle-invasive BC, failing 1 course of BCG therapy. All patients were randomly allocated to Group A, receiving intravesical gemcitabine (at a dose of 2000 mg/50 mL) twice weekly for 6 consecutive weeks and then weekly for 3 consecutive weeks at 3, 6, and 12 months, or Group B, receiving intravesical BCG (Connaught strain, 81 mg/50 mL) over a 6-week induction course and each week for 3 weeks at 3, 6, and 12 months. Outcome measures were recurrence rate, time to first recurrence, and progression rate. Treatment-related complications were also evaluated. RESULTS: Eighty participants were enrolled, 40 for each group 52.5% in Group A developed disease recurrence versus 87.5% of those in Group B (P ¼ .002). There was no statistically significant difference in mean time to the first recurrence (Group A, 3.9 months; Group B, 3.1 months; P ¼ .09). Kaplan-Meier analysis of 2-year recurrence-free survival showed significant differences between Group A and B (19% and 3%, respectively, P < .008). Seven of 21 (33%) patients in Group A and 13 of 35 (37.5%) patients in Group B had disease progression and underwent radical cystectomy (P ¼ .12). Both intravesical administrations were generally well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Gemcitabine might represent a second-line treatment option after BCG failure in high-risk non-muscle-invasive BC patients. Cancer 2010;116:1893-900.

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