One hundred cases of anaesthesia for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

One hundred cases of anaesthesia for Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) are described. Epidural or general anaesthesia was used. Anaesthetic complications were mainly cardiovascular, namely hypotension and bradycardia. With increased experience, it was noted that the use of minimal concentrations of general anaesthetic agents, or epidural anaesthesia supplemented with ephedrine, decreased the incidence of these problems. There was a low incidence of nausea or vomiting or analgesic requirements postoperatively, and the average length of stay in hospital postoperatively was 3 days.