[Clinical study of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for stones in solitary kidney]

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) treatment was performed on 17 patients with a solitary or sole functioning kidney from August 1986 to April 1988. Some patients with renal stone had a double pig tail catheter to protect the stone street and those with ureteral stones had a ureteral balloon occlusion catheter to raise the efficiency of fragmentation placed prior to ESWL as much as possible. Combined manipulation with such an instrument as nephrostomy tube to wash out residual stone fragments or endoscopic operation were performed. Despite of these devices, ESWL treatments for staghorn calculi and cystine stones were troublesome in solitary kidneys. After follow up ranged from 9 to 602 days (mean 87.6 days), 10 patients (58.8%) were stone free. ESWL treatment is safe and effective for solitary kidneys. We recommended premedication and pretreatment by ureteral stenting in patients with a solitary kidney.