Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy of gallstones: clinical experience with 170 patients

Between Jan. 19, 1989 and Nov. 23, 1990, 170 patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis were evaluated for possible treatment by extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). Thirty-one patients were not eligible for treatment, 28 (16%) because of nonvisualization of gallstones by ultrasonography and 3 (2%) because polyps were erroneously diagnosed on ultrasonography. Thirteen (8%) patients failed to comply with the protocol, leaving 126 patients for assessment. At the time of writing, the treatment success rate is 57% at 6 months and 69% at 9 months. Treatment failed in 21 (17%) patients because of unsatisfactory fragmentation in 16 (13%) patients, frequent biliary colic in 3 (2%) patients, acute pancreatitis in 1 (0.8%) patient and severe bile-salt-induced diarrhea in 1 (0.8%) patient. Complications included biliary colic (40 patients), mild diarrhea on bile salts (24 patients), severe diarrhea (1 patient), macroscopic hematuria (4 patients), acute pancreatitis (2 patients) and vagal shock (1 patient). This study demonstrates the effectiveness (87%) of the lithotripter in reducing gallstones to fragments 5 mm in diameter or smaller. However, complete disappearance of these fragments with adjuvant bile-salt therapy may take many months.