Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy has become the best treatment for infantile renal lithiasis, according to a study carried out by specialists in Urology.
What are kidney stones and what symptoms do they produce?
Kidney stones or renal lithiasis is a pathology caused by the presence of solid elements of different size and appearance that are formed inside the kidneys or urinary tract, motivated by containing salts in the body fluids.
They can be of different sizes, from the size of a grain of sand to a stone of considerable proportions. Sometimes kidney stones can be expelled from the body without the need for medical intervention, but there may also be cases in which they remain in the kidney and even move through the urinary tract, getting stuck and blocking the urinary tract. This causes the patient great pain, fever, hematuria, etc., making intervention necessary.
Who is affected by kidney stones?
It is a pathology that usually affects mostly adults. However, recent studies have shown an increase in the number of cases in children, mainly due to dietary factors and the increase in childhood obesity at school age, between 6 and 12 years of age.
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy treatment in children
Following the recent research mentioned above, and with years of accumulated experience, it can be affirmed that the ESWL fragmentation technique in children (extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy) is the first choice in the treatment of renal lithiasis and proximal and middle ureter lithiasis. During the study, in fact, it was applied in 178 patients. Stones of 2 to 3 centimeters were amenable to successful treatment without complementary maneuvers or adjuvant treatment. The exception was cystine lithiasis, which is a less frequent type of renal disease, which offered more fragmentation problems.
Ureteroscopy is the therapeutic option of choice in lithiasis of the lower ureter and, in some cases, of the middle and proximal ureter. The rigid ureteroscope allows coadjuvant therapeutic alternatives to ESWL, with high resolving power and maneuverability. Flexible URS (Ureterorenoscopy) is a less used technique due to the fact that very good results have been recorded with ESWL and rigid URS.
Alternative treatment to extracorporeal lithotripsy in extreme cases
Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) continues to be a therapeutic alternative for exceptional cases of complex lithiasis or lithiasis resistant to ESWL. Likewise, the microperc technique, which is a less invasive percutaneous technique, has been an important advance for treating young children.