Treatment of renal stones in a solitary functioning kidney with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Forty extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) sessions were performed in the treatment of 36 stones in 22 solitary functioning kidneys between October 1990 and October 1991. We inserted a double-J catheter in all patients preoperatively and no serious obstruction such as stone street formation was observed after treatments. Following ESWL therapy, at the end of 3 months follow-up, 14 patients (63.6%) were completely stone free while in 5 patients ESWL therapy was unsuccessful. ESWL became the treatment of choice for stones in solitary kidneys as a result of its highly effective, safe and encouraging outcome.