Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) is a non-invasive method for treating stones in the kidneys or the upper part of the ureter. Because it is an \u201cexternal\u201d treatment, there are no incisions, catheters or high-risk anaesthesia, and recovery is immediate.<\/p>\n
Extracorporeal lithotripsy is not suitable for all stones (it ideally works best on stones smaller than 1 cm and stones of moderate hardness). More than one session may be needed if the stone is not fully fragmented on the first attempt. Its drawback is the risk from the fragments that are naturally passed through urination, which can sometimes cause a transient renal colic as they pass through the ureter.<\/p>\n
The session usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the hardness and size of the stone.<\/p>\n
In most cases, general or spinal anaesthesia is not required. Only light mild sedation or oral\/intravenous painkillers are given, as the sensation during the shocks can be uncomfortable (like light pinches or taps).<\/p>\n
The patient lies on a special table, with the back or abdomen (depending on the location of the stone) resting on a soft, water-filled cushion that transmits the waves.<\/p>\n
Before and during treatment, fluoroscopy (X-rays) or ultrasound is used to pinpoint the exact position of the stone with absolute accuracy.<\/p>\n
The lithotripter generates shock waves outside the body. These waves pass through the soft tissues and skin without causing damage, but are focused exclusively on the stone. When the high-energy waves strike the stone, it fragments into small pieces, similar to sand grains or small gravel.<\/p>\n
The patient returns home a few hours after the end of treatment.<\/p>\n
Over the following days or weeks, the patient naturally passes the fragments through urination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) is a non-invasive method for treating stones in the kidneys or the upper part of the ureter. Because it is an \u201cexternal\u201d treatment, there are no incisions, catheters or high-risk anaesthesia, and recovery is immediate. Extracorporeal lithotripsy is not suitable for all stones (it ideally works best on stones smaller […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":12,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1242","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1244,"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1242\/revisions\/1244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/economidesuro.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}