OBJECTIVES: A 2023 study investigating the current rate of single-use (SU) ureteroscope (URS) usage within the United States (U.S.) found that 68% of respondents utilized SU in some capacity, and evaluated the main drivers and barriers to adoption. Multiple SU URS have entered the market since this investigation. This analysis gives insight to recent SU URS usage and updated drivers and barriers of SU adoption in the U.S.

METHODS: To evaluate the current SU URS usage and adoption drivers and barriers, a survey was administered to 106 urologists across 83 facilities in the U.S. between December 2023 and June 2024. Care settings included academic medical centers (AMCs) (n=31), community hospitals (n=35), ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) (n=14) and veterans affairs (VA) hospitals (n=3). Results were analyzed and the percent of SU users was calculated, along with the top drivers and barriers to adoption.

RESULTS: Of the 106 respondents, 69% indicated they have SU URS in their practice currently. Adoption among AMCs was highest with 77% of respondents having SU URS in practice, followed by community hospitals (66%), ASCs (64%) and VA hospitals reporting the lowest adoption (33%).

CONCLUSIONS: SU URS utilization continues to grow across care settings due to the benefits and drivers. Excluding costs, respondents highlighted the environmental impact of SU as a key barrier to utilizing SU despite published literature noting similar, or even less, impact on the environment compared to reusable (RU) scope reprocessing. This signals the need for facilities to investigate their own reprocessing processes and grow their understanding of the environmental impact.