ESWL: stone-free efficacy based upon stone size and location

Summary

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy was used for the treatment of 1060 patients or 1128 kidneys with solitary stones. There were 528 pelvic stones, 82 upper caliceal stones, 120 middle caliceal stones and 398 lower caliceal stones. These groups were divided into two subgroups of large (>15 mm) and small (≤15 mm) stones. A total of 1232 treatments were carried out (1.16/patient or 1.09/kidney) and 91% of the patients underwent a single treatment. Auxiliary procedures were required in 5% of the patients and the complication rate was 3%. Overall, 74% of the patients were stone-free after 3 months of follow-up. Of the 26% with residual stones, 18% had sand (≤2 mm fragments) or match-heads (≤4 mm), 6% had fragments (≤5 mm) and 2% had no fragmentation at all. A stone-free result occurred in approximately 87% with small pelvic and upper caliceal stones, whereas large stones in these locations became stone-free in approximately 70% of cases. Both large and small stones in the lower half of the kidney (mid and lower calices) become stone-free less frequently (to a statistically significant degree) than do similar stones located in the pelvis or upper calices.