Objective To explore the correlation between the formation of adherent stones in short-term indwelling double-J catheters and serum protein markers in patients with urinary calculi.

Methods The clinical data of 80 patients treated with ureteroscopic lithotripsy combined with double-J catheters implanting within 31 to 60 days from August 2022 to August 2023 and 80 healthy individuals undergoing physical examinations were collected. According to whether the wall stones were formed, the urinary calculus group was divided into two groups. The serum biomarker levels of each group were compared by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The correlation between wall stone and levels of clinical indicators and protein biomarker levels was evaluated by single-factor and multi-factor analyses.

Results The serum levels of MCSF proteins and IL-20 in the calculi group were both higher than those in the control group (P ＜0.01), while there was no significant difference in the expression level of serum protein IL-1F10 between the calculi group and control group (P ＞ 0.05). In the calculi group, only the expression level of serum protein MCSF was higher than that in the non-calculi group (P ＜ 0.05), and the levels of C-reactive protein, long diameter of surgical calculi and incidence of urinary tract irritation symptoms after catheterization were higher than those in the non-calculi group (P ＜ 0.05). The formation of adherent stones in double-J tubes was correlated with the content of serum MCSF, and was an independent related factor (P ＜ 0.05).

Conclusions The serum MCSF and IL-20 are associated with the occurrence of calculi. The serum MCSF is an independent related factor of the formation of adherent calculi in short-term indwelling double-J catheters.