Comparison of the effects of general, spinal and epidural anesthesia on ureter access and surgical outcomes during flexible ureterorenoscopy for transurethral single stone removal surgeries: a monocentric retrospective study

Background In ureterorenoscopy, anaesthesiologists are preferring regional anaesthesia to avoid postoperative complications, while surgeons are preferring general anaesthesia to avoid ureteral trauma. China has not published its guidelines and not referring to the European Association of Urology guidelines. The objectives of study were to evaluate the effects of general, spinal, and epidural anaesthesia on ureter access and surgical outcomes of ureterorenoscopy. Methods Charts of a total of 392 patients with the American Society of Anaesthesiologists grade I or II, and underwent flexible ureterorenoscopy for removal of the proximal, middle, or distal ureteral single stone under general anaesthesia (GA group; n = 145) or spinal anaesthesia (SA group; n = 131) or epidural anaesthesia (EA group; n = 116) were reviewed retrospectively. Results The dilatation time for patients of GA group was fewer than those of SA (104.01 ± 12.77 sec/patient vs. 130.55 ± 22.53 sec/patient, p