General Anesthesia (GA): Exposure to general anesthesia during routine RIRS. The anesthesia technique is selected according to routine clinical practice and anesthesiology assessment and is not assigned by the study protocol.
Spinal Anesthesia (SA): Exposure to spinal anesthesia during routine RIRS. The anesthesia technique is selected according to routine clinical practice and anesthesiology assessment and is not assigned by the study protocol.
Study summary
This prospective observational study aims to evaluate the association between anesthesia type and surgeon-perceived workload and surgical ergonomics in adult patients undergoing flexible ureteroscopy and retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for kidney stones. Patients will be classified according to the anesthesia administered during routine clinical care as general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia. The choice of anesthesia will be determined by routine clinical practice and the anesthesiology team and will not be assigned by the study protocol. Surgeon workload will be assessed immediately after surgery using the Surgery Task Load Index (SURG-TLX). Perioperative outcomes, including operative time, procedural characteristics, postoperative pain, complications, and stone-free status, will also be evaluated.
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
—
Max age
—
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion Criteria:
* Age 18 years or older
* Patients scheduled for elective flexible ureteroscopy and retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for kidney stones
* Ability and willingness to provide written informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
* Pregnancy
* Emergency surgery, including procedures performed for sepsis, hemodynamic instability, or urgent urinary drainage
* Concomitant major surgical intervention during the same session, such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy, open surgery, or laparoscopic surgery
* Congenital renal anomalies or major anatomical abnormalities that may substantially affect the procedure
* Bilateral RIRS performed during the same operative session
* Procedures involving substantial intraoperative surgeon switching or extensive transfer of the procedure for training purposes
* Incomplete surgeon SURG-TLX assessment or missing primary outcome data
Primary outcome measure(s)
Total Weighted Surgery Task Load Index (SURG-TLX) Score — Within 15-30 minutes after completion of the surgical procedure Surgeon-perceived workload will be assessed using the original weighted Surgery Task Load Index (SURG-TLX). The instrument includes six domains: mental demands, physical demands, temporal demands, task complexity, situational stress, and distractions. Domain weights are determined through 15 pairwise comparisons, yielding a weight from 0 to 5 for each domain. Each domain is then rated on a 20-point scale. The weighted workload score for each domain is calculated by multiplying the domain weight by its rating, resulting in a score from 0 to 100. The six weighted domain scores are summed to obtain the total SURG-TLX workload score, with higher scores indicating greater perceived surgical workload. The total weighted SURG-TLX score ranges from 0 to 300, with higher scores indicating greater perceived surgical workload.
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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