Report of the United States Cooperative Study of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy

Abstract

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy effectively fragments urinary calculi in the upper urinary tract and upper ureter. These fragments pass completely by 3 months in 77.4 per cent of the patients with single stones. Risk of obstruction, increased postoperative pain, need for additional urological operations and retained fragments are low for stones less than 1 cm. in size. As the number of stones treated or single stone size increases above 1 cm. the risk for these factors increases. Adjunctive urological surgical management is required in 9 per cent of the patients preoperatively and 8 per cent postoperatively. Only 0.6 per cent of the patients require some type of open operation to resolve the stone problems after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Hemorrhage, obstruction by fragments, severe pain and urinary infection all constitute known complications and require careful urological management of all patients. Hospitalization averages 2 days after treatment and patients usually return to work within a few days after they are discharged from the hospital.

Prospective Study of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in the Management of Renal Calculi

“…12 If not performed well, it can be associated with significant complications. [13][14][15] This study evaluates the role of PCNL in the management of renal calculi in our setup with respect to efficacy and attending complications.…”

The efficacy of radiographic anatomical measurement methods in predicting success after extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy for lower pole kidney stones

“…Besides its high level of patient approval and low complication rates, the non-invasive nature and cost-effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) have rendered this treatment modality a preferred option for most of the urinary calculi (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). It has been determined that many factors, including the size, composition and location of the stone and the infundibulopelvic anatomy of kidney are involved in the success of ESWL (6)(7)(8).…”

Variables influencing the likelihood of cardiac dysrhythmias during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

“…1 It has been established as a safe and effective therapy for upper urinary tract calculi and has become the primary method of intervention for many urologists. [2][3][4][5][6] While serious side effects are rare, transient cardiac dysrhythmias (CD) may be associated with ESWL. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Such events have been documented at rates of 60% to 80% with early lithotripters and have led to the development of electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated shock wave delivery systems for management and prevention.…”