Litholytic agents with bacteriostatic properties in conservative treatment of urolithiasis.

Litholytico-bacteriostatic agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) can be used for direct dissolution of calcium and magnesium containing urinary stones. By means of a double-channel catheter (Timmermann) and the corresponding technique a direct irrigation of the kidney cavities with EDTA solutions was possible, without any serious side effects (instrumental stone chemolysis method). It must be pointed out that the instrumental chemolysis can be clinically applied only by a specialised scientific staff, and improvisation may cause serious complications; further development of new potential litholytico-bacteriostatic agents is necessary in order to increase effectiveness of the method. Some clinical results are reported concerning the indications for this method by X-ray illustrations of successfully treated cases.