[Problems in the clinical evaluation of an endoscopic lithotripter. The case of the Lithoclast EMS]

The rapid appearance of various clever and efficient techniques for fragmenting urinary stones in the past 10 years, and their often combined use, makes an objective evaluation of an intracorporeal lithotripter impossible since the criss-cross of the factors to be considered is very important in the literature. Two University Hospitals, one in France (Paris), the other in Germany (Bochum-Herne) have agreed upon a common protocolic, making a coherent and numeral evaluation possible, derived from two different and independent spheres. After a methodological introduction, the results of the research concerning the EMS Lithoclast are reported.