[Ambulatory treatment of ureteral lithiasis using shock wave extracorporeal lithotripsy]

Presentation of the results obtained with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) applied to 3173 ureteral lithiasis with a Dornier HM-4 equipment. Location of lithiasis was pyeloureteral junction (329), lumbar ureter (1068), sacral ureter (238), iliopelvic ureter (1474) and "lithiasic path" (64). All lithiasis were treated in situ. Treatments were carried out ambulatory with no anaesthesia. Treatment/lithiasis rate was 1.3. Percentage of stone-free patients with ESWL alone was 79.2% after the first session, and reached 86.14% with retreatment. Percentage of success for lithiasis in pyeloureteral junction was 81.8%, 79.7% for lumbar ureter lithiasis, 80.09% sacral lithiasis, 90.10% iliopelvic ureter lithiasis and 79.9% for those in the "lithiasic path". 12.6% lithiasis required post-ESWL auxiliary manoeuvres. Post-ESWL minor complications (pain, vegetations) occurred in 5.6% cases and major complications (obstruction, fever, sepsis) in 2.9%. The factors influencing lithiasis fragmentation were the number of shock waves and the lithiasis duration. Size of lithiasis and presence or absence of ureteral catheter had no influence. These results suggest that ESWL is an effective method for managing ureteral lithiasis.