The Effect of Tamsulosin and Nifedipine on Expulsion of Ureteral Stones after Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy

Purpose: We evaluated the effect of tamsulosin and nifedipine on expulsion of ureteral stones after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). Materials and Methods: We evaluated 96 upper or lower ureteral stone patients. All patients received a single session of ESWL with a piezolith3000 and received twice-a-day oral treatment of 5mg trospium chloride. The patients were randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 received once a day oral therapy of 0.2mg tamsulosin. Group 2 received once a day oral therapy of 30mg nifedipine. Group 3 was used as the control group. All patients took oral medication for 2 weeks, and then we analyzed the stone expulsion rate, side effects, and mean numbers of emergency room (ER) visits for pain control. Results: There were no differences in the 3 groups in stone size, location, age, and sex. The total stone expulsion rate was significantly higher in group 1 (84.4%) compared with group 3 (60.6%) (p=0.032). Patients with lower ureteral stones in group 1 showed a higher expulsion rate (94.1%) than those of group 3 (66.7%) (p=0.042). There was no difference in stone expulsion rates between group 2 (67.7%) and group 3 (60.6%). Conclusions: These result suggest that adjunctive medical therapy with tamsulosin after an ESWL increased the stone expulsion rate of ureteral stones, especially lower ureteral stones. (Korean J Urol 2008;49:150-154) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏