SUMMARY
The study objective was to analyse the effect of the herbal drug Canephron N, namely, its ability to potentiate the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the treatment of patients with urolithiasis (UL) and prevent recurrence of stone formation.Aim. To ?heck the hypothesis that treatment with Canephron N can potentiate lithotripsy and reduce the risk of re-stone formation. Methodology. Patients at the age of 18 to 65 years had calcium oxalate urolithiasis with the size of the stone from 0.8 to 1.3 cm in the kidneys and from 0.5 to 0.9 cm. in ureters who underwent ESWL procedure. They were randomized into 2 equal groups of 30 people. The treatment group received general recommendations on the management of the patient with UL following ESWL and the herbal drug Canephron N for 6 months. The control group received only general recommendations. Moreover, according to condition, both groups received painkillers and spasmolytics if pain occurred during elimination of fragments. The following parameters were evaluated: the period of elimination of fragments after stone disintegration by ESWL method; the percentage of complete elimination of fragments; the presence of pain syndrome and leukocyturia in the postoperative period; the rate of recurrence of stone formation during one year after the procedure.Results. More complete and rapid elimination of fragments was observed in the treatment group. Thus, up to day 14 elimination of stone fragments was observed in 96.6 % of patients in the treatment group versus 76.6 % in the control group. Fewer cases of pain syndrome during elimination of stone fragments (23 % in the treatment group and 43 % in the control group) and rare cases of leukocyturia within 14 days (10 % versus 23 %, respectively) were observed in the treatment group. Recurrent stone formation within the year was not observed in patients of the treatment group, in the control group – in 23 % of patients. However, because of the small size of the groups, one may talk about a tendency but not about statistically significant patterns.Conclusion. Canephron N is an effective and safe drug in the treatment of patients with urolithiasis who underwent extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Its use contributes to more rapid and safe elimination of fragments of destructed calculi and reduces risk of recurrent stone formation.