[Recurrence prevention of kidney stones - pharmacologic and dietary measures]

Recurrence prevention of kidney stones - pharmacologic and dietary measures Abstract. Kidney stone episodes are traumatic events for affected patients and the risk of recurrence is high. Both prevalence and incidence of kidney stone disease are rising globally, and associated cost are gigantic. Hence, effective, well-tolerated and cheap measures for recurrence prevention are of utmost importance. In this article, we summarize the possibilities for the prevention of idiopathic calcium stones and uric acid stones, which together are responsible for the bulk of kidney stone episodes. Formally, preventive measures can be divided into dietary and pharmacologic interventions. In daily practice, frequently both approaches have to be combined to achieve a successful long-term recurrence prevention. The biggest challenge in the recurrence prevention of kidney stones is to achieve a sustained adherence to preventive measures in the affected patients.