Use of antibiotics in the conjunction with extracorporeal lithotripsy.

The first 400 patients treated on an inpatient basis at our center underwent bacteriological follow-up after extracorporeal lithotripsy (ECL) for ureteric or renal stones. 278 patients did not have any urinary tract infection on the urine culture before ECL. They did not receive any antibiotic prophylaxis and 4.8% of the patients developed infectious problems, with significant bacteriuria in only 1.5% of the cases. 89 patients had urinary tract infection on the preoperative cultures. 21.3% developed either fever or significant bacteriuria and this virtually always occurred in patients who were treated for less than 4 days before ECL, with septicemia in 4.5% of the cases. 33 patients with sterile urine received flush antibiotic prophylaxis and none of them developed postoperative infection. Two of these patients had infection at the time of the flush: one of them, who, by error, did not receive antibiotic treatment prior to ECL, developed bacteremia after the procedure. The rational use of antibiotics in conjunction with ECL should ensure effective prevention of urinary tract infections without requiring the excessive use of antibiotics.