[Treatment of gallbladder lithiasis by piezoelectric extracorporeal lithotripsy]

We report the results of extracorporeal piezoelectric lithotripsy of gallbladder stones, using the EDAP LT 01 device, in 60 patients treated without anaesthesia or analgesia. Fragmentation was satisfactory (i.e. with fragments less than 5 mm wide) in 31 patients (52 per cent) after multiple sessions (mean: 1.6). The satisfactory fragmentation rate was higher in patients with stones smaller than 20 mm (63 vs 8 per cent; P less than 0.01) and not different in patients with solitary or multiple stones (53 vs 50 per cent). After bile acid dissolution treatment during 3, 6 and 12 months, the stone-free rates were 23, 41 and 64 per cent respectively, and significantly better at 3 and 6 months in patients with satisfactory fragmentation (42 vs 4 per cent; P less than 0.05, and 71 vs 9 per cent; P less than 0.01). Fourteen patients (23 per cent) reported biliary colic, but only one required cholecystectomy. No severe complication was observed. Piezoelectric lithotripsy is safe, requires short hospitalization and gives interesting results when the stones are less than 20 mm wide.