Abstract

Aim: To determine the stone clearance rate with pneumatic lithoclast in upper ureteric stones.

Study design: case series.

Methods: 102 patients of any gender were taken in the study. Inclusion criteria included individual’s 1-2 cm upper ureteric calculi diagnosed preoperatively by USG KUB, XRAY KUB & IVP. Patients were evaluated for stone clearance in the 1st & 14th POD with X-ray KUB, ultrasound. Per procedure consent was taken in all cases.

Results: The mean age of the participants varied from 10 years to 70 years with a mean of 35.87±12.867. Majority of the people were between 35-60 years (49%) followed by 10-34 years (47.1%) & 3.9% of the study population were in the 61-85 years group. There were 70(68.6%) male and 32(31.4%) females in the study with a male to female ratio of 2.18:1. Stone size ranged from 10mm to 17mm with a mean of 12.31±1.63mm. Stone was in right side in 47(46.1%) and left ureter in 55(53.1%) patients.

Conclusion: The frequency of stone clearance was found to be 57.8% with pneumatic lithoclast in patients with single stone of 10-20mm in upper ureter which is slightly lower than that with newer methods like laser but can be used safely and efficiently in places where laser is not available which advocates that pneumatic lithoclast could be used in management of upper ureteric stones in future urological practice.

Keywords: Intracorporeal lithotripsy, pneumatic lithotripsy, ureteric stone