[Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy of pancreatic calculi]

Using extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) pancreatic stones may be disintegrated. Acute adverse effects directly attributably to shock wave lithotripsy are rare. More than half of the patients will exhibit complete clearance of the pancreatic duct system after ESWL, endoscopic sphincterotomy and extraction of fragments. Most of the patients in whom the ducts could be cleared from the stones also showed improvement of chronic pancreatic pain. These findings, however, have to be substantiated by larger clinical studies with longer follow-up periods.