title: Can Sexual Intercourse Be an Alternative Therapy for Distal Ureteral Stones? A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of sexual intercourse on spontaneous passage of distal ureteral stones.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were randomly divided into 3 groups with random number table envelope method. Patients in group 1 were asked to have sexual intercourse at least 3-4 times a week. Patients in group 2 were administered tamsulosin 0.4 mg/d. Patients in group 3 received standard medical therapy alone and acted as the controls. The expulsion rate was controlled after 2 and 4 weeks. Differences in the expulsion rate between groups were compared with the chi-square test for 3 × 2 tables. P <.05 was considered as statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean stone size was 4.7 ± 0.8 mm in group 1, 5 ± 1 mm group 2, and 4.9 ± 0.8 mm group 3 (P = .4). Two weeks later, 26 of 31 patients (83.9%) in the sexual intercourse group, and 10 of 21 patients (47.6%) in tamsulosin group passed their stones, whereas 8 of 23 patients (34.8%) in the control group passed their stones (P = .001). The mean stone expulsion time was 10 ± 5.8 days in group 1, 16.6 ± 8.5 days in group 2, and 18 ± 5.5 days in group 3 (P = .0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results have indicated that patients who have distal ureteral stones ≤6 mm and a sexual partner may be advised to have sexual intercourse 3-4 times a week to increase the probability of spontaneous passage of the stones.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: drdoluoglu@yahoo.com.tr.
authors.forename: Omer Gokhan
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Doluoglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Arif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demirbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muhammed Fatih
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kilinc
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tolga
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karakan
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mucahit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Selen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bozkurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Berkan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Resorlu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003075:Coitus; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014514:Ureteral Calculi / Q000628:therapy*