Improved stone quality of life in patients with an obstructing ureteral stone on alpha-blocker medical expulsive therapy

Though controversial, alpha blockers are used widely for ureteral stone passage. However, its effects on the patient-reported Quality of life (QOL) is unknown. We compared the QoL of patients on alpha-blocker medical expulsive therapy (MET) to patients not on MET (noMET) utilizing the validated Wisconsin Stone Quality of Life (WISQOL). This prospective study included patients prescribed either MET or noMET after presentation with symptomatic, obstructing ureteral stones. The treatment arm was decided at the point of care by the initial treating physician and included analgesia and antiemetics. Tamsulosin (0.4 mg daily) was prescribed for the MET group. The WISQOL survey was administered at baseline, 7-, 14-, 21- and 28-days following discharge from the ED or until stone expulsion. 197 patients were enrolled, of which 116 (59.2