Introduction: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of performing extracorporeal physical vibrational lithecbole (EPVL) through greater sciatic foramen (GSF) for distal ureteral calculi (DUC) treatment. Materials and Methods: All patients with a diagnosis of DUC (6-10 mm in diameter) were enrolled in this study from October 2018 to May 2020. Patients were randomly divided into three groups receiving EPVL through GSF (Group A, n = 58), or abdominal (Group B, n = 60), or combined with oral use of tamsulosin at 0.4 mg daily (Group C, n = 63). Results: There was no significant difference observed in terms of demographic characteristics or size of stones among the three groups (p > 0.05). Compared with the Groups B and C, patients of the Group A displayed a significantly higher score of comfort, with a significantly decreased number of renal colic attacks or analgesics required (p < 0.01). The stone-free rate also significantly increased after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment (p < 0.01), despite such a significant difference among these groups vanishing after 4 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: EPVL in the prone position uses the GSF as the path and is a safe and effective approach to treat the distal ureteral calculi.
Keywords: distal ureteral calculi; extracorporeal physical vibrational lithecbole; greater sciatic foramen; medical expulsive therapy.