The prospective evaluation of the effectiveness of scoring systems in the emergency department in cases with suspected ureteral stones: STONE? CHOKAI?

Introduction: This study evaluates the effectiveness of CHOKAI and STONE scores in patients presenting to the emergency department with ureteral stones.
Methods: Patients over the age of 18 who were admitted to the emergency department with flank pain, groin pain, scrotal pain, and hematuria and who were performed non-contrast abdominal computed tomography (CT) for diagnostic imaging were included. The numeric pain, CHOKAI, and STONE scores of the patients were calculated. The effectiveness of these scoring systems in the presence of stones was examined.
Results: A total of 105 patients were included in the study. In the analysis performed to investigate whether there was a difference between the numeric pain, STONE, and CHOKAI scores in terms of the presence of stones on CT, it was seen that the CHOKAI score was significantly different from the others (p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation was found between the CHOKAI score and stone size (r = 0.343, p < 0.001).When the cut-off value of the CHOKAI score was >7, the sensitivity was found to be 60.49%, and specificity was 83.33%. The cut-off value for the STONE score was >8 with a sensitivity of 70.37% and specificity of 58.33%. The corresponding area under curve values for the CHOHAI and STONE scores was 0.788 (p < 0.0001) and 0.615 (p = 0.087). Male sex, the CHOKAI, and STONE scores were the independent risk factors for ureteral stone. A significant positive correlation was found between the CHOKAI score and stone size (r = 0.343, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The CHOKAI score has a higher performance than the STONE score in detecting the presence of ureteral stones.
New Knowledge Added by This Study: The CHOKAI score has a higher performance than the STONE score in detecting the presence of ureteral stones. Especially in countries such as Turkey, where there are no specific racial differences, the STONE score may be diagnostically insufficient. The CHOKAI score shows the presence of the patient's stone and positively correlates with the size of the stone and the stone location.
Implication for Clinical Practice or Policy: In the functioning of the emergency department, it is important to make the differential diagnosis of patients quickly and provide effective treatment. The use of diagnostic scoring systems saves time for the emergency physician in the differential diagnosis phase and guides in terms of applying for possible additional imaging methods.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There is no conflict of interest between authors.
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