Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy of radiolucent urinary calculi using the Dornier HM-3 and HM-4 lithotriptors.

Between September 1992 and June 1995, 33 patients with radiolucent urinary calculi were treated in our hospital using Dornier HM-3 and HM-4 lithotriptors. There were 11 caliceal stones, 13 in the renal pelvis, and 9 in the ureter. Stone localization was achieved in only 30 patients using intravenous urography or retrograde urography through a ureteric catheter during the procedure. All patients were treated on an outpatient basis, without anesthesia. During the 1st month following extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, the patients received alkalization. The overall stone-free rate at 3 months was 90%. The time of radiation exposure was in the range of the opacified stones. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy using Dornier HM-3 and HM-4 lithotriptors proved to be an effective procedure to treat radiolucent urinary calculi when localization of the stone is possible.