Comparing tamsulosin, silodosin versus silodosin plus tadalafil as medical expulsive therapy for lower ureteric stones: A randomised trial

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of tamsulosin, silodosin, and silodosin plus tadalafil as medical expulsive therapy (MET) for distal ureteric calculi. METHODS: In all, 120 patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomised into one of three treatment arms: tamsulosin (Group A), silodosin (Group B), and silodosin plus tadalafil (Group C). The drugs were given for a maximum of 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was the stone expulsion rate and secondary endpoints were stone expulsion time, number of pain episodes, and side-effects associated with MET. The follow-up period was for 4 weeks, after which ureteroscopic lithotripsy was done to remove any stones that were not expelled. RESULTS: There was a statistically significantly higher stone expulsion rate in Group C (90%) as compared to groups A (57.5%) and B (77.5%) with a shorter mean time to stone expulsion. Also, there were statistically fewer pain episodes in Group C as compared to groups A and B. There were no serious side-effects. CONCLUSION: The present study concludes that the combination of silodosin and tadalafil increases the ureteric stone expulsion rate and decreases the expulsion time significantly. This combination provided significantly better control of pain without any serious side-effects.