Metabolic evaluation and potassium citrate effectiveness in calcium oxalate stone patients

To determine the importance of metabolic evaluation for etiologic factors on urinary tract stones patient and to examine the efficacy of potassium citrate based medical treatment in these patients. MATERIAL and METHOD : 94 patients who were diagnosed urinary tract calcium oxalate stones between October 1998 and January 2000 in Gazi University, Medical Faculty, Department of Urology were included in the study. All the patients underwent a complete metabolic evaluation for urolithiasis. 53 patients were administered oral potassium citrate 60 mEq/day and 41 patients received no medical treatment as control group. RESULTS : We prospectively examined 63 men, 31 women with a mean age of 44.7±1 1.8 for treatment group, 41.0+12.1 for control group. Mean follow up was 24.1+3.61 months for treatment group and 19.3+4.80 months for control group. In the treatment group, recurrence rates were significantly lower than the control group (p<0.05). Patients who still had residual fragments less than 10 mm after initial treatment, showed stone dimension reduction in treatment group which was significantly higher than control group (p<0.05). Stone free period in treatment group, was 5.526 times higher than control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS : Urinary tract stone disease has higher recurrence risk and lots of etiologic factors effect to stone formation. Because of reason, metabolic evaluation is necessitate on patient who diagnose urinary tract stone disease. Potassium citrate treatment is effectively both in prophylaxis and treatment of urinary tract stone disease.