Ungated extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in children: An initial series

• Published in: Urology (Ridgewood, N.J.) Vol. 67; no. 2; pp. 392 - 393
• Main Authors: Rhee, Katherine, Palmer, Jeffrey S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.02.2006; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adolescent; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Kidney Calculi - therapy; Lithotripsy - adverse effects; Lithotripsy - methods; Male; Medical sciences; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Human; Nephrology; Lithotripsy; Instrumentation therapy; Child; Shock wave; Urology
• ISSN: 0090-4295; 1527-9995
• DOI: 10.1016/j.urology.2005.08.032

Ungated extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is associated with cardiac arrhythmias in adults. However, the incidence of arrhythmias in children undergoing ungated ESWL has not been established. Therefore, we report on the safety and efficacy of ungated ESWL of renal calculi in children. We evaluated all patients younger than 18 years of age who were undergoing ungated ESWL of renal calculi. All patients were monitored for arrhythmias, along with other standard monitoring, by the anesthesiologist. Eight consecutive children (three boys and five girls) between 3.5 and 17 years of age (median 13.5) underwent 10 ESWL procedures for renal calculi. Of the 10 stones, 9 were located in the left kidney and 1 was located in the right kidney. The stone size ranged from 5 to 19 mm. Six patients underwent 3000 shocks and 2 patients underwent 800 and 2200 shocks. All patients underwent lithotripsy with a gradual incremental energy increase from 17 to 24 kV, except for 1 child (maximum of 18 kV) because of the patient’s age (3.5 years). No patient had cardiac arrhythmias or other intraoperative complications. No patient required conversion to gated ESWL. The overall stone-free rate was 90.0% as determined by abdominal radiography and renal/bladder ultrasonography. The results of this initial series suggest that ungated ESWL is safe and efficacious in patients younger than 18 years of age. Additional studies are warranted to evaluate further the use of ungated ESWL in the pediatric population.