Does Pediatric nephrolithiasis treatment affect renal growth?
Friday, 27 July 2007 – Up to 50% of the children with nephrolithiasis pass urinary calculi spontaneously. However, intervention is necessary in cases of concomitant infection, persistent flank or abdominal pain, and failure to pass a ureteral stone after a sufficient observation period. The treatment options for urolithiasis in children are the same as those for adults. These treatments include shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), ureteroscopic stone extraction (URS), percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), and, rarely, open or laparoscopic surgical extraction. The long-term effects of shock wave lithotripsy on the growth of pediatric kidneys are not well defined. Likewise, no long-term data regarding renal growth after ureteroscopy or percutaneous nephrolithotomy have been published. Reisiger et al. (2007) studied the effect of urolithiasis on renal growth in the pediatric patient population. A total of 165 children were treated for urolithiasis at St. Louis Children’s Hospital from March 1993
