Efficacy of low dose tamsulosin in medical expulsive therapy for ureteral stones in Japanese male patients: A randomized controlled study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of low dose tamsulosin for facilitating spontaneous passage of ureteral stones in Japanese male patients. Methods: A total of 71 patients with symptomatic ureteral stones, 10 mm or smaller in size, were randomly allocated into groups 1 and 2. Group 1 received tamsulosin (0.2 mg/day) for a maximum of 4 weeks and group 2 received no medication. The primary endpoint was the stone expulsion rate and the secondary endpoints were stone expulsion time and analgesic use. Results: There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of age, stone size and location. The stone expulsion rate was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (77% vs 50%, P = 0.002). No significant differences were noted in the stone expulsion time and analgesic use between the groups. Conclusion: Low dose tamsulosin can significantly facilitate spontaneous passage of ureteral stones without significant side-effects in Japanese male patients.

Tamsulosin for Ureteral Stones: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In addition, this study updated the earlier reviews by adding seven recently published trials [11,15,17,18,25,36,38], which provides more powerful evidence to support tamsulosin as a prior medical treatment for distal ureteral stones.…”

“…The combined search strategies identified 29 trials [6,9,10,11,12,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38], including 2,763 patients (1,051 tamsulosin 0.4 mg/day, 145 tamsulosin 0.2 mg/day and 1,567 controls), that met the inclusion criteria. One of the studies was written in Korean [26] and another in Chinese [38].…”

Determine the Effectiveness of Low Dose Tamsulosin as a Medical Expulsive Therapy in Patients with Lower Ureteric Stones

“…In another RCT The stone expulsion rate was significantly higher in low dose tamsulosin group than in control group (77% vs. 50%, P=0.002). No significant differences were noted in the stone expulsion time and analgesic use between the groups [11]. Improved detection of stones, increasing lifespan, and dietary changes may be related to the increased prevalence of stone disease [12,13].…”

“…No significant differences were noted in the stone expulsion time and analgesic use between the groups [11]. There was a validity issue in the above mentioned studies as the sample sizes were and hence the results cannot be generalized [10,11]. Furthermore no local data is available on this topic locally and there is dearth of literature internationally as well.…”

Update on medical expulsive therapy for distal ureteral stones: Beyond alpha-blockers

“…10 Stone expulsion rates of 77% in tamsulosin group and 50% in control arm were observed (p = 0.002) in the Kaneko study. 11 No significant side effects were documented in either study.…”