Introduction
Kidney stones are an important health problem with a high prevalence worldwide. According to recent studies, the prevalence of kidney stones in the United States was found to be 8.8% (1). This rate is between 1% and 15% worldwide, depending on age, gender, race and geographical area (2).
The frequent occurrence of kidney stones have increased the need for more effective and safe methods in stone treatment. Advances in fiberoptic technologies, intracorporeal lithotripters and grasping devices have made retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) an effective and safe minimally invasive method for treatment (3).
The European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines recommends the RIRS as an alternative approach when the percutaneous nephrolithotomy and shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) are not an option even for larger than 2 cm in size (4). Retrograde intrarenal surgery is a sophisticated surgical procedure that requires the efficient use of different technologies at the same time. Surgical experience is an important factor affecting the safety of RIRS (5). Live surgery events (LSEs) are frequently organized to transfer surgical experiences to surgeons beginning of the learning curve. On the other hand, live surgery is a controversial issue in terms of ethics and legal (6). The European Association of Urology publishes its policy on live surgical activities with a review of panel recommendations (7). But previous studies do not provide a direct evidence of higher complication and lower stone-free rates that can make RIRS an ethic and legal problem in LSEs.
This study aims to investigate the outcomes and complication rates of patients undergoing RIRS at the LSEs organized by the Society of Urological Surgery in Turkey (SUST) and compare it with a matched control group.