A new approach may help shift or break up kidney stones while causing the least amount of pain.
A novel procedure that combines the use of two ultrasound technologies may give a painless way to transport kidney stones out of the ureter.
The physician directs ultrasonic waves towards the stone using a portable transducer put on the skin during the treatment.
The ultrasound can then be utilised to shift and rearrange the stones in order to facilitate their transit, a procedure known as ultrasonic propulsion.
The study was aimed to assess the feasibility of employing ultrasonic propulsion or BWL to break up stones in awake, unanesthetized individuals.
Twenty-nine patients took part in the trial.
Sixteen patients were treated only with propulsion, whereas 13 were treated with both propulsion and burst wave lithotripsy.
The stones migrated in 19 of the patients.