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Citrus australasica, the Australian finger lime or caviar lime have garnered interest both in culinary and scientific communities. Despite extensive studies on their metabolomic and volatilomic profiles, research on the physical properties of finger lime pearls, especially their diameter, colour, and mechanical properties, remains limited. Understanding these attributes is crucial for quality assessment, consumer preference, and marketability in the food industry. This study aims to investigate the diameter, visual appearance, and mechanical properties of finger lime pearls from three different varieties ('Champagne Red', 'Emerald', and 'Chartreuse'), comparing them with similar foods and assessing their implications for culinary use and market value. Colour properties were analysed using the CIELAB system, and mechanical properties were assessed through texture analysis, focusing on bursting strength and strain. Finger lime pearl diameters ranged between 1.62 and 3.60 mm, aligning with sizes of comparative foods. Colour analysis revealed distinct differences among varieties. Mechanical properties, particularly bursting strength, and strain, varied significantly across varieties, with 'Champagne Red' and 'Chartreuse' showing higher bursting strengths. These properties suggest different culinary applications and potential for a grading system based on sensory experience. The study highlights the importance of physical and mechanical properties in determining the quality and marketability of finger lime pearls. It introduces a novel framework for assessing these attributes, suggesting that finger lime varieties can be differentiated and graded for culinary use based on pearl diameter, colour, and mechanical properties. This research lays the groundwork for future sensory-based studies and the development of quality grading systems for finger limes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent retrospective literature suggests that the quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) scoring tool is a potentially superior tool over use of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria to predict septic shock after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) surgery. Here we examine use of qSOFA and SIRS to predict septic shock within data series collected prospectively on PCNL patients as part of a greater study of infectious complications. Materials and Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of two prospective multicenter studies including PCNL patients across nine institutions. Clinical signs informing SIRS and qSOFA scores were collected no later than postoperative day 1. The primary outcome was sensitivity and specificity of SIRS and qSOFA (high-risk score of greater-or-equal to two points) in predicting admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) for vasopressor support. Results: A total of 218 cases at 9 institutions were analyzed. One patient required vasopressor support in the ICU. The sensitivity/specificity was 100%/72.4% (McNemar's test p < 0.001) for SIRS and was 100%/90.8% (McNemar's test p < 0.001) for qSOFA. Conclusion: Although positive predictive value for both qSOFA and SIRS in prediction of post-PCNL septic shock is low, prospectively collected data demonstrate use of qSOFA may offer greater specificity than SIRS criteria when predicting post-PCNL septic shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Bladder neck abscesses are rare urologic pathologies with very few cases published in modern literature. This report explores a case of a bladder neck mass incidentally found on computed tomography (CT) imaging in a patient with an iliopsoas abscess. Case Presentation. We present a case of a 60-year-old woman who was recently treated for sepsis secondary to an iliopsoas abscess in July of 2022. A CT scan revealed an indeterminate structure in the posterior inferior left paramedian bladder wall. During a cystoscopy with transurethral resection of the mass, an abscess was uncovered and evacuated. A postoperative Foley catheter was left in place, and the patient recovered without any complications. Conclusion. At the time of publication, the patient feels well and denies pain or lower urinary tract symptoms. Although bladder abscesses are exceptionally rare, incidental findings during cystoscopy may warrant further investigation in patients with comorbid abscesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our aim is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery compared to percutaneous nephrolithotomy to guide practitioners and inform guidelines.Materials and Methods: A detailed database search was performed in PubMed, OVID, Scopus, and Web of Science in October 2021 to identify articles pertaining to ECIRS published between 2001 and 2021.Results: Four nonrandomized comparative studies and one RCT were identified, yielding five studies with a total of 546 patients (ECIRS/mini-ECIRS, n = 277; PCNL/mini-PCNL, n = 269). Subjects in these five studies met the predefined inclusion criteria established by two reviewers (J.E.A. and R.L.S.) and were therefore eligible for analysis. The results demonstrated that ECIRS was associated with a higher SFR (OR: 4.20; 95% CI: 2.79, 6.33; p < 0.00001), fewer complications (OR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.97; p=0.04), and a shorter hospital stay (WMD: -1.27; 95% CI: -1.55, -0.98; p < 0.00001) when compared to PCNL. There were no statistically significant differences in blood transfusions (OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.12, 1.68; p=0.24), operative time (SMD: -1.05; 95% CI: -2.42, 0.31; p=0.13), or blood loss (SMD: -1.10; 95% CI: -2.46, 0.26; p=0.11) between ECIRS and PCNL.Conclusions: ECIRS may be a more suitable approach for the surgical management of large and complex kidney stones currently indicating PCNL due to its superior efficacy with comparable surgical time and complication rate, though it is thought that a lack of resources and properly trained personnel may preclude ECIRS from becoming the standard. It is our impression that ECIRS may become the preferred technique in the endourologic community corresponding to the evolutionary sequence of percutaneous stone surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is an effective procedure for removal of large kidney stones; however, PCNL has traditionally been reserved for inpatient surgery. Certain cases are being performed entirely at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC), known as ambulatory PCNL (aPCNL). Materials and Methods: Five hundred consecutive PCNL procedures performed at a free-standing ASC between April 2015 and February 2019 were analyzed. Patient demographics, stone characteristics, operative characteristics, and postoperative data, including transfer to hospitals, 30-day readmissions, and complications > Clavien I, were recorded. Results: The mean age of patients undergoing PCNL at the ASC was 57 (range: 16–86) and body mass index 30 (16–49). American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) compositions are as follows: ASA 1 (6.5%), ASA 2 (56.2%), ASA 3 (37.2%), and ASA 4 (0. 1%). The mean stone burden was 30 mm (5–140). Standard tract dilation (24–30F) comprised 77% of cases. Ninety-two percent of cases were performed with a single tract, and 99% of cases had a ureteral stent as the only form of drainage (tubeless PCNL). The mean operative time was 104 minutes (32–305), and postanesthesia care unit time was 97 minutes (37–247). The predicted stone-free rate was 84%. Twelve patients (2.4%) required transfer to hospital, and the 30-day readmission rate was 4.2%. Conclusion: aPCNL is a safe and feasible procedure if performed by a high volume endourologist, even within the confines of a free-standing ASC. It is our opinion that the utilization of endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery facilitates high stone-free rates with minimal morbidity and low readmission rates. The institutional review board number is WIRB # 20171472. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Current American Urological Association (AUA) Best Practice Statement recommends antibiotic prophylaxis for cystoscopy with manipulation, including stent removal; although no Level 1b trials explicitly address prophylaxis for stent removal. We sought to determine the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics to prevent infectious complications after stent removal. Materials and Methods: Following institutional review board approval, patients undergoing removal of ureteral stent placed during stone surgery were recruited from July 2016 to March 2019. Patients were recruited at the time of stent removal and randomized to treatment (single dose 500 mg oral ciprofloxacin) or control group (no antibiotics). Telephone contact was attempted within 14 days of stent removal to assess for urinary tract infection (UTI) symptoms, antibiotic prescriptions, or Emergency Department visits. Primary outcome was UTI within 1 month of stent removal – defined by irritative voiding symptoms, fever or abdominal pain associated with positive urine culture (Ucx) (>100k colony-forming units/mL). Results: Seventy-seven patients were enrolled, with 58 meeting final inclusion criteria for the analysis (33 treatment, 25 controls). No differences were seen with clinical and demographic variables, except a higher body mass index in the treatment group (P = 0.007). Positive Ucx rate before stone surgery (16.7% vs. 11.8%, P = 0.819) and at the time of stent removal (16.0% vs. 11.1%, P = 0.648) was not significantly different in treatment versus control groups, respectively. Primary outcome: No patients in either cohort developed symptomatic culture-diagnosed UTI within 1 month of stent removal. Of patients with documented phone follow-up (treatment n = 29, control n = 22), only one patient (control) reported any positive response on phone survey. Conclusions: We found a low infectious complication rate regardless of antibiotic prophylaxis use during cystoscopic stent removal. The necessity of antibiotics during routine cystoscopic stent removal warrants possible reevaluation of the AUA best practice statement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Outpatient percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) has been described for highly selected patients. We sought to assess the safety and feasibility of outpatient PCNL in a tertiary referral stone center without strict patient selection criteria.Materials and Methods: We reviewed all PCNLs performed at our institution from September 2015 to October 2016. Of the 97 eligible cases, 60 patients underwent planned outpatient PCNL. Primary outcome was complication rate, and secondary outcome determined predictor variables of inpatient admission. Results: Thirty-seven inpatient and 60 planned outpatient (one bilateral) PCNLs were performed with 65% and 44% American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score ≥3, respectively. The 30-day overall complication rate for the inpatient and planned outpatient groups was 27% and 20%, respectively (p = 0.43) [70% and 92% Clavien grades I–II]. Emergency department presentation within 30 days was 19% and 18% (p = 0.94), and unplanned hospital readmission rate was 3% and 10% (p = 0.05). The 37 inpatient PCNL patients had larger total stone burden than outpatient cases (40.7 vs 25.8 mm, p = 0.0014); more often required two or more punctures into the kidney during the procedure (73% vs 45%, p = 0.025); and more often had supracostal access (20% vs 7%, p = 0.05). For the outpatient PCNL cohort, 72% patients were discharged same day, 28% were observed overnight for refractory symptoms or social reasons. Outpatient cohort radiographic stone-free rate by CT (no stones) was 67%. Conclusion: Outpatient PCNL has been safely and effectively performed within our institution in moderate-sized stones almost regardless of comorbidity status. We suggest that this approach is a potential algorithmic change in centers with sufficient case volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Accurate measurement of pH is necessary to guide medical management of nephrolithiasis. Urinary dipsticks offer a convenient method to measure pH, but prior studies have only assessed the accuracy of a single, spot dipstick. Given the known diurnal variation in pH, a single dipstick pH is unlikely to reflect the average daily urinary pH. Our goal was to determine whether multiple dipstick pH readings would be reliably comparable to pH from a 24-hour urine analysis. Materials and Methods: Kidney stone patients undergoing a 24-hour urine collection were enrolled and took images of dipsticks from their first 3 voids concurrently with the 24-hour collection. Images were sent to and read by a study investigator. The individual and mean pH from the dipsticks were compared to the 24-hour urine pH and considered to be accurate if the dipstick readings were within 0.5 of the 24-hour urine pH. The Bland-Altman test of agreement was used to further compare dipstick pH relative to 24-hour urine pH. Results: Fifty-nine percent of patients had mean urinary pH values within 0.5 pH units of their 24-hour urine pH. Bland-Altman analysis showed a mean difference between dipstick pH and 24-hour urine pH of -0.22, with an upper limit of agreement of 1.02 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45-1.59) and a lower limit of agreement of -1.47 (95% CI, -2.04 to -0.90). Conclusions: We concluded that urinary dipstick based pH measurement lacks the precision required to guide medical management of nephrolithiasis and physicians should use 24-hour urine analysis to base their metabolic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited studies have reported on radiation risks of increased ionizing radiation exposure to medical personnel in the urologic community. Fluoroscopy is readily used in many urologic surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to determine radiation exposure to all operating room personnel during percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL), commonly performed for large renal or complex stones. Materials and Methods: We prospectively collected personnel exposure data for all PNL cases at two academic institutions. This was collected using the Instadose™ dosimeter and reported both continuously and categorically as high and low dose using a 10 mrem dose threshold, the approximate amount of radiation received from one single chest X-ray. Predictors of increased radiation exposure were determined using multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 91 PNL cases in 66 patients were reviewed. Median surgery duration and fluoroscopy time were 142 (38-368) min and 263 (19-1809) sec, respectively. Median attending urologist, urology resident, anesthesia, and nurse radiation exposure per case was 4 (0-111), 4 (0-21), 0 (0-5), and 0 (0-5) mrem, respectively. On univariate analysis, stone area, partial or staghorn calculi, surgery duration, and fluoroscopy time were associated with high attending urologist and resident radiation exposure. Preexisting access that was utilized was negatively associated with resident radiation exposure. However, on multivariate analysis, only fluoroscopy duration remained significant for attending urologist radiation exposure. Conclusion: Increased stone burden, partial or staghorn calculi, surgery and fluoroscopy duration, and absence of preexisting access were associated with high provider radiation exposure. Radiation safety awareness is essential to minimize exposure and to protect the patient and all providers from potential radiation injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective was to demonstrate that percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) can be safely performed with a tubeless or totally tubeless drainage technique. Introduction: Standard PCNL includes nephrostomy tube placement designed to drain the kidney and operative tract at the conclusion of the procedure. Modern technique trend is tubeless PCNL and totally tubeless PCNL, which are performed without standard nephrostomy drainage. We aim to reinforce current literature in demonstrating that PCNL can be safely performed using a tubeless technique. With compounded supportive data, we can help generate a trend toward a more cost-effective procedure with improved pain profiles and patient satisfaction, as previously shown with the tubeless technique. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 165 patients who underwent PCNL treatment was performed. Of this group, 127 patients underwent traditional nephrostomy drainage following PCNL. A tubeless procedure was performed in the remaining 38 patients. Patient's postoperative stone size and burden as well as complication profiles were analyzed. Largest stone size and total stone burden was similar between the groups. Results: Patient characteristics and demographic information were compared and no significant statistical difference was identified between the groups. Complication rates between the groups were compared and no statistical difference was noted. A total of 23 patients had at least one postoperative complication. Conclusion: Tubeless and totally tubeless PCNL demonstrates equivalent outcomes in the properly selected patient group when compared to PCNL performed with a nephrostomy tube. Although this is not the first study to demonstrate this, a large majority of urologists continue standard nephrostomy placement after PCNL. More studies are needed that demonstrate safety of this practice to shift the pendulum of care. Thus, tubeless and totally tubeless PCNL can be performed safely and effectively, which has previously been shown to improve cost, patient pain profiles, and length of hospitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective was to present a straightforward, step-by-step reproducible technique for placement of a guide-wire into any type of urethral catheter, thereby offering a means of access similar to that of a council-tip in a situation that may require a different type of catheter guided over a wire. Materials and Methods: Using a shielded intravenous catheter inserted into the eyelet of a urinary catheter and through the distal tip, a "counsel-tip" can be created in any size or type of catheter. Once transurethral bladder access has been achieved with a hydrophilic guide-wire, this technique will allow unrestricted use of catheters placed over a wire facilitating guided catheterization. Results: Urethral catheters of different types and sizes are easily advanced into the bladder with wire-guidance; catheterization is improved in the setting of difficult urethral catheterization (DUC). Cost analysis demonstrates benefit overuse of traditional council-tip catheter. Conclusion: Placing urinary catheters over a wire is standard practice for urologists, however, use of this technique gives the freedom of performing wire-guided catheterization in more situations than a council-tip allows. This technique facilitates successful transurethral catheterization over wire in the setting of DUC for all catheter types and styles aiding in urologic management of patients at a cost benefit to the health care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a standard treatment for patients with large or complex kidney stones. The procedure has traditionally included postoperative placement of a nephrostomy tube to allow for drainage and possible reentry. This practice was first implemented after complications incurred after tubeless PCNL in a small patient population. Recently, tubeless PCNL has reemerged as a viable option for selected patients, resulting in decreased pain and analgesic use, shorter hospitalization, quicker return to normal activity, and decreased urine extravasation. Gelatin matrix sealants are occasionally used in nephrostomy tract closure. Techniques for delivery of these agents have been ill described, and placement may be performed with varying results. We present a literature review comparing tubeless PCNL to its traditional variant with indications for use of each, as well as a comparison of agents used in closure. Finally, we outline a novel, reproducible technique for closure of the dilated percutaneous renal access tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]