How are Kidney Stones treated with Lithotripsy?
(A)–The purpose is to safely fragment your kidney or ureteral stones so the stone fragments can be passed naturally in your urine. The treatment is safe and complications of treatment are rare. In December of 1984 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) for use in the United States. More commonly called just lithotripsy, this new technology offers a noninvasive technique to eliminate kidney stones from 80% of kidney stone sufferers with a return to their normal life-style within a few days. The lithotripter – meaning “stone crusher” in Greek, was developed after six years of research by the Dornier Systems Company, a West German aerospace company. In February 1980, the company started the first cliinical trials of shock wave therapy for kidney stones. The treatment begins with the patient being submerged in warm water in a very large specially design bathtub for approximately one hour for the treatment. Two x-ray mach
