The kidney stone shatterer is used in one of the most successful treatment options for kidney stones of all types from a size of more than one centimetre and has a success rate of about 90%. This therapy is known as extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWL) or lithotripsy. The disintegrator works according to the following principle: With the help of an ultrasound device, the exact location of the kidney stone is determined.
Then, bundled sound waves (shock waves) are directed at the stone under permanent ultrasound control. These high-energy waves break the stone into the smallest fragments. These are then small enough that the body can excrete them by itself through the urine.
Advantages over other treatment options for kidney stones are, on the one hand, that this therapy can usually be carried out on an outpatient basis, i.e. patients can be spared a strenuous, long stay in hospital. On the other hand, it is non-invasive, i.e. no surgery is required, the patient does not need a general anaesthetic and no skin incision has to be made. In addition, ESWL is perceived by those affected as hardly painful and not very stressful.
The most unpleasant aspect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy is the noise level it generates, against which the patient is, however, given hearing protection. The most important point in favor of this method, however, is of course the high success rate. This measure should not be used on pregnant patients or on persons with untreated urinary tract infections.
The first successful application of a kidney stone shatterer was in 1980. In the meantime, slightly more than 90% of all kidney stones in industrialized countries are treated with this therapy, in Germany the number of annual applications is about 21,000.
