Effects of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy on different stone types

Abstract

Although extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has become a routine procedure in the treatment of urinary stones, its effectiveness depends on many factors; including the size, location and composition of the stone. 315 patients with only kidney stones have been treated by ESWL and 250 of patients who became stone-free included to this study. The effectiveness of ESWL on different types of stones was observed by calcu¬lating the number of shock waves essential for the fragmantation of 1 mm3 of stone and the number of therapy. We observed that the uric acid stones needed the least number of shack waves whereas the calcium phosfate stones needed the most. With regard to the number of shock waves and sessions essential for the fragmentation of 1 mm3 of stone from highest to lowest, we observed the stone types as follows: calcium phosfate> struvite> calcium-oxalete monohydrate> calcium-oxalate mon-odihydrate> calcium-oxalete dihydrate> uric acid stones. As a result in the evaluation of effectivness of ESWL, we thought that deter¬mining the composition of the stone is an important factor.