Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy; can alpha blocker improves stone clearance?

To determine the efficacy of Alpha blocker as adjunctive medical therapy, which increases the stone clearance after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy [ESWL] to treat renal stones. Quasi Experimental study. Department of Urology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. September 2010 to March 2011. Ultrasound guided Dornier Alpha Impact lithotripter was used for shock wave lithotripsy. Study was carried out on 60 patients who underwent single session of ESWL for renal calculus. Patients were divided in two groups, Group A [n=30] received conventional treatment and Group B [n=30] received Alpha-1 Blocker in addition to conventional treatment. All patients were evaluated with X-ray and Ultrasound [KUB] after 2 weeks and repeated at the end of month. Failure is defined as unsuccessful expulsion after 4 weeks and patient desire to remove the stone before day 30. Out of 60 patients, 45[75%] were males and 15[257%] were females with male to female ratio was 3:1. The average age of the patients was found 36.32 +/- 14.8 [Ranging from 15 to 75] years. Complete clearance was achieved in 76.7% of those receiving Alpha-1 Blocker and in 46.7% of controls at 1 month [P = 0.001]. This difference was statistically significant. The results of my study demonstrate that Alpha-1 Blocker therapy, as an adjunctive medical therapy after ESWL is more effective than lithotripsy alone for the treatment of patients with large renal stones and is equally safe