The best candidates for the lithotripsy method are patients which have symptoms attributable to gallstones but not to either choledocholithiasis, acute cholecystitis, cholangitis or pancreatitis.
Ideally, there should be less than four stones, each less than 3 cm in diameter. The method is not suitable for pigment or calcified stones. The gallbladder must be visualised on oral cholecystography, and the stones should be easily observed on ultrasound. No cysts or aneurysms may be in the shock wave path. The patient must not have a pacemaker or an arrhythmia.
The need for gallstone lithotripsy has lessened considerably with the advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
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