[Pain evaluation during extracorporeal lithotropsy]. / Évaluation de la douleur lors d'une séance de lithotripsie extra-corporelle.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of extracorporeal lithotripsy using lithotripter Sortz MODULITH SLK(®) without analgesics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was sent to 854 patients post-shock wave lithotripsy for urinary lithiasis. No patient had pain medication. The questionnaire included seven questions to assess the pain symptoms due to treatment. After 15 days, a reminder letter was sent. RESULTS: The response rate was 69% (591/854). The extracorporeal lithotripsy without analgesic treatment was generally well tolerated. About 70% of patients felt just a few or no pain and average pain assessment was 3.6/10 on VAS. The pain was often considered to be multifactorial, related to the treatment itself, the duration of the session and the position on the table. Anxiety seemed to play an equally important role in pain relief with an average VAS 4.5 against 2.9 for non-anxious patients. If a new session of extracorporeal lithotripsy was necessary, 53% of patients would require no pain medication. CONCLUSIONS: The extracorporeal lithotripsy could easily be done without systematic analgesics allowing for outpatient care. In contrast, anxiety seemed to be an important predictor of poor tolerance of sessions so the idea of a prophylactic anxiolytic treatment based on psychological profile of the patient should allow less aggressive and less costly management of urolithiasis.

[Preventive and emergency embolization of angiomyolipomas: our experience]. / Embolisation préventive et en urgence des angiomyolipomes: notre expérience.

AIM: To present our experience with emergency or programmed embolization of angiomyolipomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The retrospective study 1999-2000 included a total of 20 patients with AML, five of whom had hypothyroidism. Group I emergency embolization: 11 patients age being 61.4 ± 15.6 years and the size of AML 8.2 ± 2.8 cm presented retroperitoneal hemorrhage from spontaneous rupture. Two had a hemorrhagic shock. A transfusion of 3.4 blood units per patient was performed for five patients. A clinical and radiological follow-up was done by scanning during the first week and in one month. Group II preventive embolization: nine patients, with age between 58.3 ± 15.2 years and tumor size 5.2 ± 2.2 cm, all asymptomatic. All successfully received a unilateral preventive embolization. A scan was performed one month later. RESULTS: Group I: the embolization was effective in 100% of patients. No intraoperative incident was reported. After one month, the reduction in tumor volume was 40%. At eight months, a patient underwent nephrectomy because of a new fracture, and another a second embolization after 14 months. The technical result was maintained in 83% of cases after 18 months. Two patients developed HTA after embolization controlled by a single treatment, and five had limited renal ischemic sequels. Group II: no intraoperative incidents and no postoperatively complications have been reported. One month after embolization, the reduction in tumor volume was 23%. After 24 months, patients remained completely asymptomatic, no spontaneous bleeding has been reported, no surgery has been performed, and no HTA has been described. Only one re-embolization was done at 20 months (artery duplicity). Limited renal ischemic sequels were reported for one patient but no renal failure. CONCLUSIONS: The required embolization became the method of choice in emergency with excellent results and few complications at distance. Programmed embolization effectively prevented the risk of bleeding, without impact on the renal function, with a low economic cost compared to hospitalization and emergency care. The significance of the observed AML--hypothyroidism association in our series requires a confrontation with more important cohorts.