Long-term effects of pediatric extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy on renal function

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a well-known and successful treatment modality. In addition, it can be used in premature infants. ESWL is used to treat kidney and ureter stones in children. However, although it is a preferred noninvasive treatment in that setting, there is debate about its long-term effects on growing kidneys in children.

To investigate the long-term effects of pediatric ESWL on renal function in light of updated literature.

PubMed and Medline were searched for studies on ESWL in a pediatric population with keywords including efficacy, child, kidney calculi, ureter calculi, lithotripsy, injury, vascular trauma, and shock waves. The research was limited to the English literature during a period from 1980 to 2014. In total, 3,000 articles were evaluated, but only 151 papers were considered. Only the manuscripts directly related to the reviewed subjects were included in the current study.

However, the acute effects of ESWL in kidney are well-described. Although there are limited studies on the long-term effects of ESWL in children, there is a widespread opinion that ESWL is not affecting renal functions in the long-term.

ESWL is a safe, effective, and noninvasive treatment option in children. Although ESWL can cause some acute effects in the kidney, there is no long-term effect on the growing kidneys of children.