Metabolic evaluation of stone disease patients: a practical approach

In the last three decades, minimally invasive techniques have progressed significantly, replacing traditional open surgery as the mainstay of stone disease surgical treatment. The challenge for the next millennium remains medical prevention of calcium urolithiasis, a field where less dramatic progress has been achieved during the same period of time. The purpose of this article is to provide the practicing urologist with current practical guidelines for the assessment and management of calcium urolithiasis patients. The recommendations are based on the latest available information regarding the pathogenesis, medical treatment options, and decision-making rationale when managing these challenging patients. Every urolithiasis patient should undergo a basic evaluation, which is considered the minimal essential diagnostic work-up, in order to rule out obvious, treatable systemic causes of urinary stone disease. All patients should be advised about conservative nonspecific preventive measures. High-risk stone patients should have a more extensive metabolic evaluation based on two 24-hour urine samples. Treatment protocols for each patient are tailored individually according to the metabolic evaluation findings.