Combined percutaneous and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy for staghorn calculi: an alternative to anatrophic nephrolithotomy.

Combinations of percutaneous and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy were performed on 46 patients with 52 staghorn calculi. Of the renal units 15 per cent had minute residual fragments but only 9.7 per cent with struvite had residual stones. The morbidity of this combined approach is less than that of anatrophic nephrolithotomy. We believe that the majority of staghorn calculi can be removed in this manner. Nephrostolithotomy should be the initial procedure in most instances. This less invasive approach is especially advantageous in patients at high risk for recurrence.