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Ureteral stents are essential implants that are used on a daily basis. Since their invention, advances in stent design have been directed towards alleviating stent-related symptoms. It remains unclear how the material composition of the stent affects stent-related symptoms.To review the literature and define the clinical impact of ureteral stent material on stent-related symptoms.A literature search of the Embase, MEDLINE (PubMed), and Web of Science databases was conducted on December 17, 2021 to collect articles comparing stent composition materials regarding stent-related symptoms. Thirteen publications met the inclusion criteria, of which only one met the high-quality requirements of the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized trials.Most trials, including the highest quality trial, seem to support that silicone double-J (DJ) stents reduce stent-related symptoms compared to nonsilicone DJ stents. Regarding physical properties, it seems that "soft" or "flexible" DJ stents reduce stent-related symptoms. However, since there was only one high-quality study with a low risk of bias, it is impossible to draw a definitive conclusion owing to the lack of quality data.Silicone DJ stents, and by extension "soft" DJ stents, appear to reduce stent-related symptoms compared to nonsilicone polymers and "hard" DJ stents. No definitive conclusion can be drawn owing to a lack of quality evidence. Creating a standard for measuring and reporting physical stent properties should be the first step for further research.A ureteral stent is a small hollow tube placed inside the ureter to help urine drain from the kidney. We reviewed the literature on the impact of stent material on stent-related symptoms. We found that silicone may reduce stent-related symptoms, but no definitive conclusion can be drawn and further studies are needed.

Introduction: With the rise in the use of ureteroscopy and laser stone lithotripsy (URSL), a proportionate increase in the risk of post-procedural urosepsis has also been observed. The aims of our paper were to analyse the predictors for severe urosepsis using a machine learning model (ML) in patients that needed intensive care unit (ICU) admission and to make comparisons with a matched cohort. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted across nine high-volume endourology European centres for all patients who underwent URSL and subsequently needed ICU admission for urosepsis (Group A). This was matched by patients with URSL without urosepsis (Group B). Statistical analysis was performed with ‘R statistical software’ using the ‘randomforests’ package. The data were segregated at random into a 70% training set and a 30% test set using the ‘sample’ command. A random forests ML model was then built with n = 300 trees, with the test set used for internal validation. Diagnostic accuracy statistics were generated using the ‘caret’ package. Results: A total of 114 patients were included (57 in each group) with a mean age of 60 ± 16 years and a male:female ratio of 1:1.19. The ML model correctly predicted risk of sepsis in 14/17 (82%) cases (Group A) and predicted those without urosepsis for 12/15 (80%) controls (Group B), whilst overall it also discriminated between the two groups predicting both those with and without sepsis. Our model accuracy was 81.3% (95%, CI: 63.7–92.8%), sensitivity = 0.80, specificity = 0.82 and area under the curve = 0.89. Predictive values most commonly accounting for nodal points in the trees were a large proximal stone location, long stent time, large stone size and long operative time. Conclusion: Urosepsis after endourological procedures remains one of the main reasons for ICU admission. Risk factors for urosepsis are reasonably accurately predicted by our innovative ML model. Focusing on these risk factors can allow one to create predictive strategies to minimise post-operative morbidity.

Background: Numerous surveys have been performed to determine the competence and the confidence of residents. However, there is no data available on the condition of Italian residents in urology. Objective: To investigate the status of training among Italian residents in urology regarding scientific activity and surgical exposure. Design, setting, and participants: A web-based survey that included 445 residents from all of the 25 Italian Residency Programmes was conducted between September 2015 and November 2015. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: The main outcomes were represented by scientific activity, involvement in surgical procedures, and overall satisfaction. Results and limitations: In total, 324 out of 445 (72.8%) residents completed the survey. Overall, 104 (32%) residents had not published any scientific manuscripts, 148 (46%) published ≤5, 38 (12%) ≤10, 26 (8%) ≤15, four (1%) ≤20, and four (1%) >20 manuscripts, respectively. We did not observe any differences when residents were stratified by sex (p = 0.5). Stent positioning (45.7%), extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (30.9%), transurethral resection of bladder tumor (33.0%), hydrocelectomy (24.7%), varicocelectomy (17%), ureterolithotripsy (14.5%), and orchiectomy (12.3%) were the surgical procedures more frequently performed by residents. Overall, 272 residents (84%) expressed a good satisfaction for urology specialty, while 178 (54.9%) expressed a good satisfaction for their own residency programme. We observed a statistically decreased trend for good satisfaction for urology specialty according to the postgraduate year (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Italian Urology Residency Programmes feature some heavy limitations regarding scientific activity and surgical exposure. Nonetheless, satisfaction rate for urology specialty remains high. Further improvements in Residency Programmes should be made in order to align our schools to others that are actually more challenging. Patient summary: In this web-based survey, Italian residents in urology showed limited scientific productivity and low involvement in surgical procedures. Satisfaction for urology specialty remains high, demonstrating continuous interest in this field of study from residents. Italian Residency Programs in urology shows some limitation regarding scientific productivity and surgical activity. Resident involvement in many urological procedures still remains low and there is a risk in providing the near future urologists with no expertise.

Aims: The role of urodynamics (UDS) before surgery for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) remains a debated issue in female urology as well as in urogynaecology and it has been recently questioned on the basis of data coming from selected population of patients defined as “uncomplicated.” The aim of this study was to investigate the percentage of “uncomplicated” patients undergoing urodynamic evaluations in six referral Italian centers. The secondary aim was to assess the prevalence of women, for whom the urodynamic evaluation could add new information to the pre-urodynamic picture and in how many cases these findings had a significant impact on patient management. Methods: The data of women who underwent urodynamic evaluation prior to surgery for stress urinary incontinence between 2008 and 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the definition of the Value of Urodynamic Evaluation (ValUE) trial criteria, patients presenting with SUI were classified as “uncomplicated” or “complicated.” Urodynamic observations were then compared with pre-urodynamic data. Results: Overall, 2,053 female patients were considered. Only 740/2,053 (36.0%) patients were defined “uncomplicated” according to the definition used in the ValUE trial. The urodynamic observations were not consistent with the pre-urodynamic diagnosis in 1,276 out of 2,053 patients (62.2%). Voiding dysfunctions were urodynamically diagnosed in 394 patients (19.2%). Planned surgery was cancelled or modified in 304 patients (19.2%), due to urodynamic findings. Conclusions: “Uncomplicated” patients represent a minority among female SUI patients evaluated before surgery. In “complicated” patients, the role of urodynamic has not been challenged yet and UDS seems still mandatory. Neurourol. Urodynam. 35:809–812, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.