The effectivity and morbidity of URS as auxiliary therapy after ESWL

We were interested in the effectivity and morbidity of URS as an auxiliary treatment in patients who underwent ESWL for ureteral (n = 71) and kidney s tones (n = 31). Between 1991 and 1995, 102 URS were per formed for treatmen t of ureteral fragments. 28 (27.5 %) were located in the proximal, 24 (23.5 %) in the middle and 50 (49 %) in the distal ureter. In 25 cases, fragment es were found as "Steinstrasse". In the same period of time, 2554 patients with ureteral stones were treated with ESWL alone, therefore the overall ra te of URS was low (4 %). URS alone had a stonefree success rate of 58.9 %. The success rate depended on the location of the ureteral stone: proximal 2 5 %, middle 50 % and distal 82 %. URS combined with ESWL showed an overall success rate of 97.9 %. Finally, only 2 patients (2, 1 %) required an open surgery. 29.3 % of the stones were treated by extraction only. The extracti on of stone was the most frequent procedure to remove the fragments after E SWL. The rate of complications were 6.9 %. None of the patients suffered fr om late complications like stricture of the ureter. The URS for the treatme nt of stone fragments after ESWL has been shown to be an effective and safe procedure with a low rate of complications.