"Lithos" -- Greek for "stone"
"Tripsis" -- Greek for "breaking"

Lithotripsy (also known as ESWL®, Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy) is a non-invasive procedure that helps your body rid itself of kidney stones with a minimum of pain.

Lithotripsy is a method of crushing a kidney stone while it's still inside your body, without any surgical incisions. During Lithotripsy, carefully directed shock waves pass harmlessly through your body and hit the stone, causing it to crumble into sand-like particles. These particles can then pass easily out of your urinary tract.

There are several types of ESWL®, but the principles are the same for all. While you lie down on a water cushion, a rapid series of high-energy shock waves pass through the water to your stone. Without injury to your body, the stone is then shattered into very fine sand.

Please refer to these pages for details.

The American Urological Association
 www.auanet.org

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease
 www.niddk.nih.gov
 
 American Lithotripsy Society
 www.lithotripsy.org
 
Digital Urology
 www.duj.com