Abstract:Objective To investigate the safety and feasibility of ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URL) for treating patients with mid and distal ureteral calculi without antibiotic prophylaxis during the perioperative period.Methods From July 2022 to January 2023, the 180 patients with mid and distal ureteral calculi undergoing URL in Zhijin Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University were selected. They were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group, with 90 cases in each group. The experimental group did not receive antibiotics before or after surgery, while the control group was treated with the standard prophylaxis, where antibiotic prophylaxis was given 30 min to 2 h before surgery and antibiotics were withdrawn within 24 h after surgery. All patients were tested for blood routine 2 h after surgery, and urine routine and blood cortisol concentration on the first day after surgery. For patients without fever, the urinary catheter was removed on the first day after surgery and discharged on the second day after surgery. For those with fever, the urinary catheter was kept while the patients were given antibiotics and retested for blood routine. All patients returned to the hospital 4 weeks later for reexamination and removal of ureteral stents, and the postoperative white blood cell count in the circulation, blood cortisol concentration and incidence of infection-related complications were compared between the two groups.Results According to the exclusion criteria, a total of 29 cases were excluded, with eventually 86 cases in the experimental group and 65 cases in the control group. Ureteral calculi were completely cleared and no remnants were observed in all patients. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of postoperative fever, the white blood cell distribution and count in the circulation 2 h after surgery, the white blood cell count in the urine one day after surgery and 4 weeks after surgery, the operative duration, or the blood cortisol concentration between the two groups (P > 0.05). The positive rate of white blood cell in the urine and the percentage of > 5 white blood cells per high power field in the urine one day after surgery were different between the two groups (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the positive rate of white blood cell in the urine and the percentage of > 5 white blood cells per high power field in the urine four weeks after surgery between the two groups (P > 0.05).Conclusion It is safe and feasible to go without antibiotic prophylaxis during the postoperative period when URL is performed in patients with simple mid and distal ureteral calculi without preoperative urinary tract infection.