The effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in the treatment of ureteral stones in children

PURPOSE: In our study, we evaluated retrospectively the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the treatment of ureteral stones in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between the dates of 2005-2010, 62 children who were applied ESWL due to the ureteral stone in our Clinic and consisted of 42 males and 20 girls whose mean age was 6.6 +/- 3.1 were evaluated. 31(50%) of the patients were upper ureteral stone, 10 (16.1%) of them were middle ureteral stone and 21(33.9%) of them were lower ureteral stone. The sizes of the stones were 4 to 17 mm, the average was 7.1 mm. ESWL was performed in the supine position for upper ureteral stones, in the supine/prone position for middle and lower ureteral stones. RESULTS: Stone-free rate was determined as 93.5% in three-month follow-up of the patients. Re-treatment was done at 14.5% of the patients. The implementation of ESWL was ended unsuccessfully at 4 children (6.5%). A significant difference was not detected between three-month stone-free rates in terms of the size of the stones and location. There was not any serious complication at any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: According to these findings ESWL with its high stone-free rates and negligible complications is the first method to be refered in the treatment of ureteral stones in children.