Clinical outcome of therasonic LTS and SDS-5000 for the treatment of urinary stones

Purpose: We compared the clinical efficacy of Therasonic LTS (piezo-electric type) with that of SDS-5000 (spark gap type) for the management of urinary stones. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 516 patients treated with Therasonic LTS, between June 1996 and April 2001, and 314 treated with SDS-5000 between September 2001 and January 2003. We compared the average success rates and shock wave sessions according to the stone sizes and locations, and also verified the complications related to the therapies. Results: The total success rates of Therasonic LTS and SDS-5000 were similar (92.6 and 94.6%, respectively), with no difference according to stone location and size. However, the average shock wave sessions were significantly lower in the group treated with SDS-5000 (2.5±1.8 sessions) compared to the group treated with Therasonic LTS (3.1±1.9 sessions) (p <0.05). The cumulative success rates were 64.3 and 77.1%, respectively, at the completion of session 3, and 82.2 and 88.2%, respectively, at the completion of session 5. The complication rates associated with the therapies were 8.9 and 6.9%, respectively, consisting of pain, gross hematuria, steinstrasse and acute pyelonephritis, most of which were successfully controlled by conservative treatment. Conclusions: SDS-5000 lithotripsy is more efficient than Therasonic LTS in terms of shock wave sessions.