[Parameters influencing the incidence of recurrent urinary calculus after ESWL]

With extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, stone fragmentation and the potential creation of residual stones has become an integral part of the treatment strategy. Therefore, true recurrence, regrowth and pseudo-recurrence determine the rate of new stone formation. In nonselected series the overall recurrence rate after ESWL varies between 6% after 1 year and 20% after 4 years. The comparison between recurrence rate after ESWL and the natural recurrence rate reveals that the results of ESWL are better than expected. Lithotripsy has no specific effect on true stone recurrence, and even the pseudo-recurrence is of minor clinical significance. Nevertheless, metaphylaxis keeps its place in treatment of recurrent urolithiasis.