[Clinical application of Therasonic lithotripsy treatment system for upper urinary tract calculi]

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) using a Therasonic lithotripter was performed on 30 patients with urinary tract calculi between July, 1989 and February, 1990. The results obtained in 31 cases (one patient had bilateral renal stones) were presented. There were 22 inpatients and 8 outpatients in this series. The stone location was: renal pelvis in 15 cases, renal calyces in 10 cases, parenchyma or diverticulum of renal calyces in 3 cases, ureteropelvic junction in 1 case, and upper ureter in 2 cases. Sixteen cases (52%) became stone-free and residual stones (less than or equal to 4 mm) remained in 9 cases (overall effective rate 81%) at one month after the treatment. There were no serious complications including bacteremia and renal hematoma. We concluded that Therasonic lithotripter is useful in the management of upper urinary tract calculi.