National trends in hospital encounters, outpatient consultations and surgeries for urolithiasis in Norway
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2340/sju.v60.45214Keywords:
urolithiasis, national, ureteroscopy, swl, pcnlAbstract
Introduction: There are few studies evaluating the burden of urolithiasis on healthcare systems in Scandinavia. This study aimed to assess national trends in hospital encounters and surgical interventions for urolithiasis in Norway.
Methods: National data on hospital admissions, outpatient consultations, inpatient stays and surgical procedures were obtained from the Norwegian Directorate for Health and the Norwegian Patient Register for 2012–2023 and the operative data for 2019–2024. Variables included age and sex. Poisson regression estimated annual changes.
Results: Between 2012 and 2023, 109,490 unique patients had a hospital encounter for urolithiasis, increasing by 2.9% annually (p < 0.001). The increase was greater in males (3.2% vs. 2.6%, p < 0.001) and in those ≥70 years (6.4% vs. 2.0%, p < 0.0001). Outpatient consultations increased by 3.2% per year, with the steepest rise among older adults. Inpatient days declined annually by 2.45% (p < 0.001), while ambulatory treatments increased by 17.4% (p < 0.0001). Between 2019–2024, ureteroscopy (URS) increased from 68.6% to 80.4% of renal stone procedures and from 99% to 100% for ureteral stones. By 2024, URS accounted for 88% of all stone procedures, while shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) declined to zero for ureteral stones.
Conclusion: Urolithiasis places an increasing burden on the Norwegian healthcare system, particularly among older adults. Surgical management in Norway favours URS, representing one of the highest national proportions reported.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Patrick Juliebø-Jones, Peder Gjengstø, Mathias S. Æsøy, Bhaskar K. Somani, Øyvind Ulvik, Christian Beisland
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