The following is a summary of “Comparison of Empower and M-arm for One-surgeon Basketing in Ureteroscopic Lithotripsy: A Simulator Study by Non-doctors,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Urology by Taguchi, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to compare two techniques, the Empower and M-arm, for stone retrieval during ureteroscopic lithotripsy in a simulator. The study used flexible ureteroscopy and LithoVue and ZeroTip stone extraction devices. 

The Empower and the M-arm are one-surgeon basketing procedures, and they employed flexible ureteroscopy to compare their uses. The stone extraction tools LithoVue and ZeroTip were employed. Nurses who had never used a ureteroscope made up all of the participants. With the Empower or M-arm, they successfully removed 3 stones from the simulator. They compared the time it took to remove the stone, the frequency with which the retrieval device was opened and closed, the number of times the participant lost sight of a stone, and the number of times the line of sight was broken from the endoscopic monitor.

The results showed that the stone retrieval time was significantly shorter with the Empower than with the M-arm (10.0 vs. 19.9 min, respectively; P = .02). The number of times the retrieval device was opened and closed and the number of times the line of sight was removed from the endoscope monitor was significantly lower with the Empower (24 vs. 53 times, P = .01 and 3.1 vs. 51.5 times, P < .001, respectively). In addition, the number of times the participant lost sight of a stone tended to be lower with the Empower (9.4 vs. 25.3, P = .06). All participants indicated that the Empower is better for stone retrieval by beginners.

Based on the results, they concluded that the Empower technique was more efficient than the M-arm for stone retrieval during ureteroscopic lithotripsy in a simulator. The Empower can potentially be useful in ureteroscopic lithotripsy, especially for beginners.

Reference: goldjournal.net/article/S0090-4295(22)00950-5/fulltext