Urinary Lithiasis in Children

Urinary lithiasis in children poses a serious problem, affecting the functional future of the kidney. Etiological investigation must be exhaustive in order to avoid recurrence and prevent impairment of renal function. A retrospective study of 168 observations of urinary lithiasis collected over 8 years. All stones were analyzed by infrared spectrophotometry.The annual average was 21 cases, the most frequent symptomatology being urinary tract infection. The stone was located in the upper tract in 65% of cases. Lithiasis was associated with a metabolic etiology in 17% of cases, and with malformative uropathy in 20%. Treatment consisted of open surgery in 96% of cases. Calculi were pure in 36% of cases. Whewellite was present in 72% and predominant in 38% of stones.The therapeutic indication depends essentially on the size and location of the stones. Extracorporeal lithotripsy can be considered as 1st-line treatment, or in association with percutaneous nephrolithotomy and ureteroscopy. Surgery is still indicated when minimally invasive techniques fail.