Efficacy of emergency extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in the treatment of ureteral stones: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficiency and safety of emergency extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (eESWL) and delayed extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (dESWL) in the treatment of ureteral stones. METHODS: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science were searched from January 1, 1992 to September 30, 2022, and all comparative studies involving eESWL and dESWL for ureteral calculi were included. Statistical analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3 software. Funnel plot was used to evaluated publication bias. RESULTS: A total of 9 articles involving 976 patients diagnosed with ureteral stones were included. The results showed that the stone-free rate (SFR) after four weeks was significantly higher in the eESWL group than in the dESWL group [relative risk (RR) = 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13–1.32, P < 0.01]. In subgroup analysis of different stone locations, proximal ureteral calculi [RR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14–1.38, P < 0.01] and mid-to-distal ureteral calculi [RR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.03–1.34, P < 0.05] all showed a higher SFR in the eESWL group. eESWL significantly shortened the stone-free time(SFT) [mean difference (MD) = -5.75, 95% CI: -9.33 to -2.17, P < 0.01]. In addition, eESWL significantly reduced auxiliary procedures [RR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40–0.70, P < 0.01]. No significant difference in complications was found between the two groups [RR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.69–1.16, P > 0.05]. CONCLUSION: eESWL can significantly improve SFR, shorten SFT, and reduce auxiliary procedures. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12894-023-01226-5.