Surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis in transurethral ureterolithotripsy

The aim of this study was to establish a standard protocol for surgical antimicrobial agents for patients who received transurethral ureterolithotripsy (TUL). We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of patients who received TUL. From October 2002 to December 2003, 2 days (total, four times) of antimicrobial prophylaxis (AMP) was done, and from January 2004 to December 2004, single prophylaxis was done. We analyzed the incidence of postoperative fever and other factors associated with TUL and compared these factors between the 2-day-AMP and single-AMP groups. Of 135 patients with TUL, 66 patients were in the single-AMP group and 69 in the 2-day-AMP group. The incidences of postoperative fever were 4.5% in the single-AMP group and 11.6% in the 2-day-AMP group. No statistically significant difference was found in the incidence of postoperative fever between the two groups. Our study showed that single AMP was effective for patients receiving a TUL operation. In the future, a prospective randomized study will be needed for a large series, with various types of lithotripters being included.