ABSTRACT
Our aim was to evaluate the effect of Rowatinex, an essential oil preparation of terpenic type, on kidney calculi clearance after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy [SWL]. A randomized controlled trial was performed at Hormozgan Hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran, on 100 patients with 10-mm to 20-mm kidney calculi. They underwent SWL, and then, they were randomly assigned into 2 groups to receive Rowatinex, 100 mg, 3 times per day, or placebo after SWL. The patients were followed up with plain abdominal radiography, ultrasonography, and excretory urography [if required], 2 and 4 weeks postoperatively. Two weeks following SWL, 6 [12%] and 9 [18%] patients in the Rowatinex and control groups had fragmented calculi without clearance, 26 [52%] and 24 [48%] had less than 50% clearance, 9 [18%] and 15 [30%] had more than 50% but not total clearance, and 9 [18%] and 2 [4%] patients were stone free, respectively. Rowatinex had a significant effect on the stone-free rate [P=.02]. Four weeks post-SWL, 3 [7.3%] and 7 [14.6%] other patients in the Rowatinex and control groups became stone free, respectively. Overall, Rowatinex had no significant effect on the stone-free rate [P=.46]. No complications or differences between the two groups in symptoms and sign we reported. Rowatinex does not have a significant effect on clearance rate of kidney calculi after SWL. However, it can accelerate calculus passage after 2 weeks, and it does not have any significant adverse effects