reterohydronephrosis and kidney stone composition: potential predicting factors for the failure of in situ extracorporeal lithotripsy

The objective of our study was to identify the factors that predict the failure of extracorporeal lithotripsy in the treatment of ureteral stones, with reference to the ureteral obstruction and composition of stones determined by infrared spectroscopy. Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective study, evaluating stone-free rates of extracorporeal lithotripsy in patients with ureteral lithiasis. The stone examination was made by infrared spectroscopy. Results: 215 patients were included in this study. The overall stone-free rate in this study was 79.06%. The presence of ureteral obstruction consecutive to stones corr elates with lower stone-free rates in comparison to patients without ureterohydronephrosis. Calcium oxalate monohydrate stones had lower fragmentation rates (37.5%) compared to calcium oxalate dihydrate (84.69%) and uric acid stones (85.71%). In this study, age and gender are not factors that influence the effectiveness of extracorporeal lithotripsy. Conclusions: Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy is an effective method to manage ureteral lithi asis, but it is limited by numerous factors: body mass index, the presence of uret eral obstruction, as well as by the biochemical composition of stones. Impacted stones for a long period and the main component of calcium oxalate monohydrate have fewer chances to be succes sfully fragmented.