Necessity of antibiotics prophylaxis during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

A total of 360 patients with renal and ureteral calculi who had sterile urine before extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and did not have any increased risk of infection received Tab.Ciprfloxacin (500 mg) 12 hourly for the next 5 days or no prophylaxis were included in this prospective study. Patients were followed by urinalysis and culture together with clinical evaluations. In antibiotic prophylactic group 10 (6.4%) had post ESWL urine culture positive while in without prophylaxis 13 (8.8%) had positive urine culture. The incidence of urinary tract infection after ESWL is extremely low, provided that patients have sterile urine before the procedure.