What is Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy?
Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy (or ESWL) is used to successfully treat thousands of people for Kidney Stones each year. Lithotripsy is a procedure which utilizes shock waves, focused precisely on the kidney stone, to break it up into sand-like particles that can safely and painlessly pass through your urine. These shock waves pass through your body affecting only the targeted stone. Prior to lithotripsy, kidney stone sufferers either waited for the stone to pass with much discomfort, or underwent surgery. Today 95 percent of patients, once diagnosed for surgery, can now be successfully treated with lithotripsy.

How is the procedure performed? A technologist will use either x-ray or ultrasound to pin point the exact location of the kidney stone. Once the stone is located, the technician will move a water-filled, balloon-like apparatus over the targeted area. The procedure will start and you will hear a tapping noise — this is the shockwaves passing through the water-filled balloon to the targeted area in your body. These high-energy sound waves break up the kidney stone without affecting other areas in your body. These small pieces move through the urinary tract and out of the body more easily than a large stone. The process takes about 30 minutes. You may receive sedatives or local anesthesia. Your surgeon may use a stent (a small, short tube of flexible metal mesh that holds the ureter open) when your stones are larger than 2.5 cm. This helps the small stone pieces pass without blocking the ureter.

How to prepare for the procedure
• Do not to eat or drink anything 8 hours prior to your treatment.
• Discontinue use of aspirin or blood thinners for at least one week prior to the exam
• Do not use any powder, deodorant, lotion or perfume on the day of the procedure

What you can expect after the exam
After the treatment you may have slight pain as the stone particles pass from your body through the urine. If you experience severe pain in your side or back that continues after pain relieving medication, you should contact your Physician. You may experience slight nausea or headache for a few hours after treatment, which is caused by the anesthesia. After lithotripsy treatment it is important to drink lots of fluids. You should drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day for two or three days after your treatment . A few follow-up visits to your physician will be scheduled so he or she can make sure that the treatment was successful and that all the stone particles have completely exited the kidney and ureter. In a matter of days, you will be able to resume your usual schedule of activities.

Risks
• Pain caused by the passage of stone fragments
• Blocked urine flow as a result of stone fragments becoming stuck in the urinary tract. The fragments may then need to be removed with a ureteroscope
• Urinary tract infection
• Bleeding around the outside of the kidney

This information is provided to you as a public service, and is in no way meant to replace or supersede the information or advice provided from a qualified health care professional.

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