TFL vs Ho:YAG - A Prospective Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Thulium Fiber Laser and Holmium YAG Laser for Ureteroscopic Lithotripsy
TFL vs Ho:YAG - A Prospective Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Thulium Fiber Laser and Holmium YAG Laser for Ureteroscopic Lithotripsy
This prospective randomized clinical trial aimed to compare the difference in stone ablation rates of TFL and Ho:YAG laser in a clinical setting. Patients are randomized to receive URS with lithotripsy (URSL) either with TFL or Ho:YAG with an allocation ratio of 1:1. Primary outcome is the efficiency of stone ablation in terms of the stone ablation rate
Having the advantages of being minimally invasive and simple, ureteroscopic lithotripsy is one of the treatment options for ureteric stone less than 1.5 cm. While many energy systems has been used for stone fragmentation during ureteroscopy, laser energy is the most commonly used approach for stone fragmentation. Currently, Holmium-YAG laser is the main laser platform being used due to its preciseness and safety. Unfortunately, Holmium-YAG laser system has some intrinsic problems, such as lower energy conversion ratio, excessive heat generation in machines, noise etc. Therefore, newer laser systems are being developed to overcome the problem. Thulium-fiber Laser (TFL) is the latest available laser system in the market with promising results. The advantages of TFL included better energy conversion ratio, less heat energy generation, more portable size, allow the generation of higher laser frequency for better stone dusting etc. Therefore, its uses are increasing popular. However, there are not many studies comparing the efficacy and stone free results of the Holmium-YAG laser and TFL systems in the literature. Therefore, investigators would like to perform a formal study to compare the two systems.
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