Clinical Results of Shock Wave Lithotripsy Treatment in Elderly Patients with Kidney Stones: Results of 1433 Patients

Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) remains one of the current treatment methods for the management of kidney stones. Treatment of kidney stones in elderly patients can be complicated by comorbid conditions. This makes SWL treatment a good non-invasive option for elderly patients since it can be applied in an outpatient setting without general anesthesia.

The main limitations of this study, in which we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SWL therapy in elderly patients with kidney stones, are its retrospective nature and lack of some predictive parameters such as urinary tract anatomy, severity of concomitant obstruction, body mass index (BMI), and stone size due to its retrospective nature. However, the large sample size of patients is the strength of this study.

Our results suggest that there is no relationship between the clinical results (success rate, retreatment rate, and complication rate) of SWL treatment and age. Due to its similar clinical results, treatment of SWL with similar clinical results should not be ignored as a treatment option in the geriatric patient group with kidney stones.

Written by: Cevahir Ozer, MD, Department of Urology, Baskent University, Turkey, Twitter: @cevahir64410088

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