[Pharmacologic treatment of urinary stones]

To describe the pharmacotherapy of urinary lithiasis.

Results of a literature search (PubMed) was summarized by an experts board.

The incidence of urolithiasis constantly increases in industrialized countries and its prevalence in France is estimated around 10% in the general population. Due to its high recurrence rate urolithiasis is a public health concern. Significant progresses in both surgery and pharmacotherapy during the last thirty years markedly improve prognostic of high recurrence risk patients.

Better understanding of the physiologic disturbances involve in stone formation has allowed to identify at lest one factor in every subset of patient in which diet and pharmacotherapy will reduce the recurrence rate. In this review are discussed treatments of the crisis as well as the metabolic treatment.