Study on the Correlation Between Single-Center Adult Urinary Calculi and Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution

OBJECTIVE To explore the correlation between adult urinary calculi and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitution， and to provide new directions and strategies for the prevention and treatment of urolithiasis. METHODS A total of 998 adult patients with urinary calculus in Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine from June 2018 to December 2019 were recruited. The basic information such as sex， age， height， body weight， location of disease， recurrence， analyzed the results of calculus composition and identified the TCM constitution types were collected. The statistical methods were applied to analyze the correlation between adult urinary calculus and TCM constitution types. RESULTS Adult urinary calculus patients' TCM constitution types were significantly correlated with their BMI， gender， age and location (P<0.01). The most common types of TCM constitutions in adult patients with urinary calculus were phlegm-dampness， dampness-heat， yang deficiency and yin deficiency， among which male patients were mainly dampness-heat and phlegm-dampness while female patients were mainly yang deficiency and phlegm-dampness. A total of 998 adult patients with urinary calculus were found to be composed of 23 kinds of calculus composition， including 334 of single ones， 462 of two compound ones， 194 of three composition compound ones， 8 of four composition compound ones. The mixed form was more common in clinics. The affected patients were mainly middle-aged people， and their constitutions were mostly phlegm-dampness and yang deficiency. The young patients with urinary calculus were mostly dampness-heat and the elderly patients yin deficiency. The main focus located in the upper urinary tract. Calcium oxalate monohydrate， calcium oxalate dihydrate， and carbonate apatite were the most common calculus components. Qi deficiency was more likely to cause infectious calculi in adult patients than the type of dampness-heat， phlegm-dampness and yin deficiency (P<0.003). Patients with dampness-heat had a higher recurrence rate of calculus than patients with other constitutions. Mild constitution patients were not so likely to relapse (P<0.003). CONCLUSION There is a clear correlation between adult urinary calculus and TCM constitution. From the perspective of Chinese medicine constitution， it provides new methods for clinical prevention and treatment of adult urinary calculus.