We examined how physicians made therapeutic choices to decrease stone risk in patients with bowel disease without colon resection, many of whom have enteric hyperoxaluria (EH), at a single clinic. We analyzed clinic records and 24-h urine collections before and after the first clinic visit, among 100 stone formers with bowel disease. We used multivariate linear regression and t tests to compare effects of fluid intake, alkali supplementation, and oxalate-focused interventions on urine characteristics. Patients advised to increase fluid intake had lower initial urine volumes (L/day; 1.3 ± 0.5 vs. 1.7 ± 0.7) and increased volume more than those not so advised (0.7 ± 0.6 vs. 0.3 ± 0.6 p = 0.03; intervention vs. non-intervention). Calcium oxalate supersaturation (CaOx SS) fell (95% CI -4.3 to -0.8). Alkali supplementation increased urine pH (0.34 ± 0.53 vs. 0.22 ± 0.55, p = 0.26) and urine citrate (mg/d; 83 ± 256 vs. 98 ± 166, p = 0.74). Patients advised to reduce oxalate (mg/day) absorption had higher urine oxalate at baseline (88 ± 44 vs. 50 ± 26) which was unchanged on follow-up (88 (baseline) vs. 91 (follow-up), p = 0.90). Neither alkali (95% CI -1.4 to 2.1) nor oxalate-focused advice (95% CI -1.2 to 2.3) lowered CaOx SS. Physicians chose treatments based on baseline urine characteristics. Advice to increase fluid intake increased urine volume and decreased CaOx SS. Alkali and oxalate interventions were ineffective.
Keywords: Hyperoxaluria; Nephrolithiasis; Steatorrhea; Urolithiasis.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.