The Correlation of Opium Addiction with the Occurrence of Staghorn Renal Stones

Introduction To evaluate the effect of opiate addiction on the occurrence of the staghorn renal stones. Methods In a case-control study from January 2020 to April 2020, sixty-three patients with staghorn renal stones enrolled in our study and compared with the 60 healthy patients. The exclusion criteria were age 18 years, single kidney, renal anomalies, and previous history of malignancy. The primary demographic data, including age, sex, educational status, smoking history, and nonmedical opium utilization, were compared between the two groups. Results The incidence of staghorn kidney stones was significantly higher in males than females (45; 71.4 % male vs. 27;45.0 % P-value=0.003) respectively. There was no significant difference regarding smoking status between the patients with a staghorn kidney stone and the control group (14;22.2 % vs. 15;25.0 % P-value=0.717). The prevalence of addiction in patients with staghorn kidney stones was significantly higher than in the control group (30 patients; 46.2% vs. 7 patients;11.7 %, P-value 0.001). In the case group, fifty patients (79.4%) were undergraduates compared to 28 patients (46.7%) in the control group (P-value 0.001). Conclusions Our study represents higher proportions of men and uneducated persons with staghorn renal stones. Nonmedical Opiate addiction could be considered a risk factor for staghorn kidney stones.