Silent renal obstruction with severe functional loss after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: a report of 2 cases.

We report 2 cases of irreversible renal damage after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. The patients experienced little or no discomfort after lithotripsy and they did not return for followup until 5 months later. One patient had total loss of function of the treated kidney and the other had only 11 per cent remaining function. Both patients had ureteral obstruction documented by retrograde pyeloureterography and neither exhibited any renal arterial pathological condition on selective angiography.