Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: multicenter study of kidney and upper ureter versus middle and lower ureter treatments.

Six institutions throughout the United States participated in this study. Each center used a multifunctional flat table lithotriptor (Dornier MFL-5000) to treat 658 patients with kidney and upper ureteral stones (766 treatments) and 323 with middle and lower ureteral stones (391 treatments), for a total of 925 patients (1,157 treatments). Some patients received more than 1 treatment (that is the kidney and ureter), for a total of 981 patient events. Complete followup was available for 81% of the patients. The overall stone-free rate at followup of approximately 90 days was greater in the middle and lower ureter group (83%) than in the kidney and upper ureter group (67%). The proportion of single stones treated was greater for the former group (89.5%) than for the latter group (72%). A larger proportion (18%) of the middle and lower ureter group required 2 or more treatments to the targeted stone than did the kidney and upper ureter group (13%). Anesthesia was required or selected in only 26.7% of the kidney and upper ureteral stone patients and in 18.5% of those with middle and lower ureteral calculi, usually at the request of the patient or physician, or for performance of an adjunctive procedure. The relative safety of this treatment is demonstrated by a low overall rate of complications reported during and after treatment, including a ureteral obstruction rate of 2.1% for kidney and upper ureteral stones and 2.5% for middle and lower ureteral stones. There were no demonstrated trends in a review of laboratory data to suggest significant treatment side effects. The diastolic blood pressure increased to more than 95 mm. Hg after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL*) in 6% of the kidney and upper ureteral and 4% of the middle and lower ureteral stone patients, while pretreatment hypertension resolved after ESWL in 11% of both groups. The results of this clinical evaluation indicate somewhat greater effectiveness for the specified indications of ESWL of stones in the ureter below the upper rim of the bony pelvis, as opposed to those in the kidney and upper ureter, with a low incidence of complications and side effects.