Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy: First-Year Experience with 1360 Patients

Abstract

Thirteen hundred sixty patients with symptomatic upper and lower urinary tract calculi underwent extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) at The Ohio Kidney Stone Center during the first year of its operation, February 11, 1986 through February 10, 1987. Follow-up ranges from 6 to 18 months. Sixty-three per cent of the first 641 patients are stone free at follow-up. Retreatment was required in 7% of the patients with residual stone material. Almost half (48%) of the patients required cystoscopy with ureteral stent placement for manipulation of stones or delineation of distal ureteral anatomy to facilitate ESWL. Complications were minimal, with a rate of less than 3%.