ESWL Treatment of Urinary Calculi

A total of Ill patients with symptomatic upper and lower urinary tract calculi underwent extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy (ESWL) at the Ohio Kidney Stone Center during the first six months. At follow-up 84 percent of the first 180 patients are stone free. Retreatment was required for 2.8 percent of the patients with residual stone material. Thirty-seven percent of the treatments required cystoscopy with ureteral stent placement for manipulation of stones or delineation of distal ureteral anatomy to facilitate ESWL. Complications were minimal at less than 3 percent