Abstract
To compare the effectiveness of anti-reflux ureteral stents on improving erectile function and quality of life of patients with ureteral stents. A total of 100 male patients who required ureteral stent placement after ureteroscopic lithotripsy were randomly assigned to two groups: those in Group T (n = 50) received a standard double-J-stent, while those in Group A (n = 50) underwent implantation with anti-reflux ureteral stent. Follow up for 8 weeks after surgery, including reproductive hormones and inflammation marks, Beck’s depression scale, IIEF and statistics on the frequency of symptoms such as hematuria. Ultimately, 96 patients(48 in Group T and 48 in Group A) successfully completed the study. The operation of the two groups was smooth and no serious complications occurred. The postoperative inflammatory indexes, low back pain and LUTS in Group A were better than those in group T. In addition, there was no significant increase in Beck’s depression scale in Group A 2–4 weeks after operation, and it was lower than that in Group T. Furthermore, compared with Group T, the IIEF score of Group A was higher at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after operation. Compared with standard ureteral stents, anti-reflux ureteral stents could significantly reduce postoperative inflammatory indexes, reduce the incidence of ureter-related discomfort such as low back pain and LUTS, alleviate postoperative anxiety symptoms and protect patients’ sexual function.
Registration Number: NCT07415993 (February 10, 2026).
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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L.X and Z.G were major contributors in completing the experiment and writing the manuscript; the patients were followed up by R.W and Z.S; L.G analyzed and interpreted the data. H.L designed and participated the whole experiment. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Xu, l., Gao, Z., Wang, R. et al. A prospective randomized trial comparing the effects of anti-reflux versus standard ureteral stents on male sexual function. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41187-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41187-x
