PARAMETERS DETERMINING THE RATE OF STONE RECURRENCE AFTER ESWL

With extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, stone fragmentation and th e potential creation of residual stones has become an integral part of the treatment strategy. Therefore, true recurrence, regrowth and pseu do-recurrence determine the rate of new stone formation. In nonselecte d series the overall recurrence rate after ESWL varies between 6% afte r 1 year and 20% after 4 years. The comparison between recurrence rate after ESWL and the natural recurrence rate reveals that the results o f ESWL are better than expected. Lithotripsy has no specific effect on true stone recurrence, and even the pseudo-recurrence is of minor cli nical significance. Nevertheless, metaphylaxis keeps its place in trea tment of recurrent urolithiasis.