[Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy of urolithiasis]

A total of 159 patients underwent 194 treatments with extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy for upper urinary tract calculi between August 4 and November 30, 1986. A single treatment was performed in 76% of the patients with renal stones and 90% of the patients with ureteral stones. Treatment was successful in 153 patients (93%). Seventy percent of the patients with renal stones and 95% of those with ureteral stones were stone-free over the one-month follow-up, while about 15% had small and asymptomatic fragments believed to be passable spontaneously. Only one patient required surgical removal of the calculi due to severe ureteral edema. Adjunctive urological management is required in about 9% of the patients preoperatively or postoperatively. The period of hospitalization averaged about 11 days after treatment and patients usually returned to work within a few days after their discharge. Extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy is the preferred form of management for symptomatic ureteral and renal calculi.