[Does extracorporeal lithotripsy causes hearing loss?]. / Produce sordera la litotricia extracorpórea?

INTRODUCTION: The electrohydraulic lithotripter has revolutiomised the treatment of urolithiasis. It produces shock waves by electrical discharge in water associated at a noise. We know that the hearing damage is above 85 decibels. Our goal is determine if the Econolith 2000 lithotriptor produce hearing damage. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 10 patients were treated. They had audiometry prior to a single exposure to lithotripsy and twenty four hours after treatment. All our patients wore protective ear. The intensity of the sound was measured. RESULTS: Inside of the operated room the intensity of the sound was 96 decibels, outside was 70. There weren't hearing damage in the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The lithotriptor Econolith 2000 doesn't produce hearing damage in patients with protective ear.