Effectiveness of high-intensity laser light for treating large kidney stones

Introduction. This work analyzes efficacy, convenience, and safety of a high-energy laser light technique for destructing large kidney stones in patients with nephrolithiasis in comparison to other contact methods of nephrolithotripsy.Material and methods. The effectiveness of contact laser nephrolithotripsy is compared to that of hydropneumatic and ultrasonic lithotripsy. Holmium green laser light was used in this laser procedure. For other techniques, Swiss LithoClast Master devices were used. The authors have analyzed outcomes obtained after operating on 73 patients with large and complex kidney stones.Results. To evaluate the effectiveness, basic parameters were taken (degree of kidney cleaning of stones and their fragments, probability of migration of stone fragments, blood loss, duration of surgery, complications, etc.). In addition, the correlation between basic parameters was obtained and analyzed.Conclusion. The present trial has shown that laser contact lithotripsy is the most optimal technique for destructing large and complex kidney stones in comparison to traditional modalities such as contact hydropneumatic and ultrasonic lithotripsy. It takes more time but provides more effective cleaning from calculi.