The treatment of uric acid calculi with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

A review of the first 1000 patients treated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) at UCLA revealed 21 patients with uric acid renal or ureteric calculi. Using the combination of ESWL and oral urinary alkalinisation, 16/21 patients (76%) were stone-free at follow-up 3 months later and 19 patients were stone-free at 5 months. ESWL and urinary alkalinisation are complementary methods for the non-invasive treatment of uric acid renal calculi.