Introduction: To conduct a study focused on the assessment of the safety and effectiveness of magnetic ureteral stent removal with a special magnet retriever under ultrasound control. Methods: From October 2020 to March 2022, 60 male patients after semirigid or flexible ureteroscopy were prospectively enrolled and randomly assigned into two groups. Patients in Group A underwent stenting using the conventional double-J ureteric stents and removal with a flexible cystoscope. Group B consisted of patients who underwent stenting using the double-J stent with a cylindrical magnet at its bladder end (Blackstar, Urotech, GmbH). Removal was performed in an outpatient office setting without cystoscopic guidance aided by just a special magnet retriever provided with the stent and under ultrasound guidance. The stent indwelling time lasted for 30 days, during which each patient underwent a follow-up assessment at 3 and 30 days after stent insertion with USSQ and VAS questionnaire immediately after stent removal. Results: A comparison of the USSQ domains revealed no statistically significant differences between the domains of “Urinary symptoms” and “Sexual matters” components. Statistically domains of “Body pain”, “General health score”, “Additional problems”, and “Work performance” favoured regular stents but the differences between the two groups were marginal. Stent removal time was significantly shorter and there was a significantly lower VAS score during stent removal in group B compared to the control group. Conclusions: Ultrasound-aided, cystoscopy-free, magnet-assisted stent removal is safe, fast, and efficacious and can be done in an outpatient setting. Such an approach obliviates the need for cystoscopy, saves cost and minimizes patient discomfort making this an attractive alternative to traditional stent removal. SOURCE OF Funding: NIL
