Kidney Stones

Data from the SOUND trial are intended to support submission for FDA 510(k) clearance of the Break Wave device.

Overall, 71% of patients had no fragment greater than 2 mm following treatment.

“The technology in the field of stone management is exciting, and I think it offers patients a lot more options than what they've had in the past,” says Brian Stork, MD.

“I think it's primarily due to dietary changes that are more and more prevalent regardless of sex,” says Ian Metzler, MD, MTM.

“I would say the take-home message for this study is that prescribing tamsulosin for a week prior to an anticipated surgery that involves flexible ureteroscopy is a very simple practice that certainly is within standard of care within pediatric urology," says Kate H. Kraft, MD, MHPE, FACS, FAAP.

"A lot of people are using [single-use ureteroscopes] nowadays, and part of it is because it really enhances our ability to provide guaranteed care, because we don't have to rely on the reusability of scopes," says Perry Xu, MD.

“The data presented at EAU25 add to the growing body of evidence supporting the CVAC System as the emerging standard of care in kidney stone removal,” says Brett Johnson, MD.

"We recognize that an 11% increase in success may not seem that clinically significant, but I think every little bit helps," says Kate H. Kraft, MD, MHPE, FACS, FAAP.

"For other health care professionals aiming to advocate for equitable changes within their system, it's really important to just start conversations about what you're noticing," says Hailey Frye.

“I think we can really use AI in several different facets of endourology," says Perry Xu, MD.

Calyxo has identified a new risk of injury when the CVAC System is used in patients with high viscosity fluid in their kidneys at the start of the procedure.

"When we compared the 2 groups, those that received tamsulosin and those that did not, we did find a significant difference with regard to success rates," says Kate H. Kraft, MD, MHPE, FACS, FAAP. .

"We found that female patients, Black patients, and patients with non-private insurance had a decreased odds of receiving opioids,” says Hailey Frye.

This announcement follows the successful launch of generic tiopronin delayed-release tablets last year.

The overall prevalence of kidney stones remained stable, with a notable increase observed among women.

“We might need to do a better job in general about education of the importance of follow-up,” says Christina B. Ching, MD.

“Interestingly, the patients that were more likely to follow-up were those patients that were seen and established within our urology clinic,” says Christina B. Ching, MD.

“We felt, not only for the study, but for providing good care, that it was important to try and have these patients follow-up and see if we could identify factors that might impact their follow-up,” says Christina Ching, MD.

A recap of the FDA submissions and regulatory decisions in urology from February 2025.

YOLT-203 was granted an Orphan Drug Designation and a Rare Pediatric Disease Designation in September 2024.

A phase 1/2 trial of ABO-101 is expected to launch in the first half of 2025.

As the year comes to a close, we revisit some of this year’s top content on kidney stone management.

The SURE procedure also demonstrated significantly better outcomes on the study’s secondary end points of stone clearance and residual stone volume.

The redePHine trial is expected to launch in the first half of 2025.

"The Stone Clear device provides patients with a non-invasive option to reduce their residual fragment stone burden in the clinic environment while being fully awake," says James E. Lingeman, MD.

“So, we have all of this new technology that's about a year old, making surgery a lot safer for patients, making things more efficient, and [giving us] the ability to see stone removal happening from a perspective where we can visualize stone clearance in a way that we haven't been able to before,” says Marcelino E. Rivera, MD.

"[One] of the things that makes the technology really interesting, in my mind, for CVAC, is that it's not just a suction device," says Thomas Chi, MD, MBA.

"From a revenue, profit and loss perspective, actually, in many instances, they anticipate that physicians may actually make more money using the second-generation CVAC device compared to traditional ureteroscopy, depending on your payer mix and your practice," says Thomas Chi, MD, MBA.

Thomas Chi, MD, MBA, discusses advantages to the CVAC System.

"What we demonstrated was that at 30-day and 90-day interval outcomes, the patients actually had equivalent safety profiles compared to traditional ureteroscopy with basketing," says Thomas Chi, MD, MBA.