Renal function after bilateral extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy.

We studied renal function an average of 44 months after simultaneous bilateral renal SWL in 56 patients. No cases of clinically apparent acute renal failure occurred in the early postoperative period. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated using an empiric formula having a significant correlation with measured creatinine clearance, and a change of 20% or greater was considered a clinically significant deterioration in renal function. Of the seven patients with a preoperative serum creatinine concentration of > 1.5 mg/dL, six had an average increase of 35% in postoperative GFR attributable to relief of obstruction, while one had a 30% reduction in GFR. Among 49 patients with a preoperative serum creatinine concentration of 1.5 mg/dL or less, there was an increase in postoperative GFR in 22 patients (45%), no change in 3 (6%), and a decrease in 24 (49%), who had a higher number of multiple renal stones (p < 0.05) and of repeat SWL (p = 0.08). Nine of them (18%) had a clinically significant decrease in GFR of > 20%. A review of the literature showed a long-term reduction of function in the individual human kidney after SWL in some cases of a solitary kidney and in some cases with an untreated contralateral kidney. Because there is no evidence that an untreated contralateral kidney aids the long-term recovery of the function of a treated kidney in all cases, simultaneous or separate bilateral renal SWL would not influence this long-term reduction in renal function, which was felt to occur with multiple renal stones and repeat SWL.