THE VESICAL CALCULUS - 05/09/11
Resumen |
I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners (specialists in this art). HIPPOCRATIC OATH
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Bladder calculi have plagued mankind since time eternal. Archeologists discovered a stone resting in the pelvis of an ancient Egyptian skeleton dating back more than 7000 years.91 Although the ancient Greeks described the perineal vesicolithotomy 4000 years later, it was not until the 5th century bce that Hippocrates thoroughly documented this aggravating malady. The first true “lithotomist,” Ammonius of Alexandria, emerged about 200 bce. He utilized the perineal approach and invented the handheld lithotrite.92 Many of the principles developed by early pioneers are still in use today and can be studied in many excellent historical references.1, 11, 40, 64, 87, 103, 109, 110, 111
Fortunately, in the past 50 years, the incidence of vesical calculi in developed countries has declined significantly. Currently, they represent roughly 5% of all urinary calculi in the Western world.104, 116 Underdeveloped nations still suffer from endemic bladder calculi, especially children. Few contemporary series of bladder calculi exist in the English literature. What prevails however, is an abundance of fascinating case reports and treatises on novel treatment methods. The following is a compilation of the English literature on the causes, treatments, and preventions of vesical calculi.
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| Address reprint requests to Marshall L. Stoller, MD, Department of Urology, University of California at San Francisco, 533 Parnassus, U575, San Francisco, CA 94143 |
Vol 27 - N° 2
P. 333-346 - mai 2000 Regresar al númeroBienvenido a EM-consulte, la referencia de los profesionales de la salud.
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