The Conservative Treatment of Renal and Ureteric Calculi

The management of the treatment of patients with renal calculi calls for a consideration of various possibilities. A few examples of the spontaneous disappearance of renal calculi have been reported but such an unusual event only exceptionally concerns the urologist in determining the treatment for a given patient. Many small renal (calyceal and pelvic) calculi are voided spontaneously after negotiating the ureter, and such a possibility is always relevant. When a stone moves from the kidney into the ureter the problem then becomes one of aiding its removal. Various alternative forms of treatment are open to the urologist. Ureteric calculi may be voided spontaneously or they may require instrumental or operative intervention.