ESWL IN CHILDREN - COMPLICATIONS AND LONG -TERM RESULTS

ESWL of urinary stones is a well-established treatment in adult patien ts. The treatment of urinary stones in children has gained increasing importance in recent years. From 1987 to 1993, a series of 27 children with urolithiasis in all parts of the urinary tract were treated by E SWL. Treatment was performed with general anaesthesia or analgosedatio n. During the treatment no complications occurred. On average, 34 sess ions of ESWL, with 2165 shockwaves and 22.3 kV energy, were performed. Minor early complications, such as fever, pain and hydronephrosis, we re observed in 7 patients. The overall stone clearance rate was 92%. S tone recurrence occurred in only 1 patient. There were no late complic ations, such as malfunction of the kidney, skeletal deformation or hyp ertension after 38 months of follow up. In conclusion, ESWL is the tre atment of first choice in paediatric urolithiasis.