Aims
: To determine the incidence, mode of presentation, first line of management and composition
of non-recurrent urolithiasis in Kuwait.
Methods
: Consecutive patients admitted between January 1999 and December 2002 with nonrecurrent
urolithiasis were prospectively analyzed.
Results
: The average annual incidence of hospital admission for non-recurrent urolithiasis in Kuwait
was 43.44 per 100 000 population, representing men and women (ratio, 9 : 1) with a median age of
41.91 years. Of the hospital admissions for non-recurrent urolithiasis, 57.2% of cases were acute.
Overall, the most predominant symptom was flank pain, while the least common symptom was acute
urinary retention. Ureteroscopic stone manipulation was the most common initial treatment modality
in the present series, as it was utilized in 43.3% and 37.09% for patients admitted on elective and
emergency basis, respectively. Of the calculi available for chemical analysis, 91% contained calcium,
73% contained calcium oxalate, 17% contained mixed calcium and 1% contained calcium phosphate.
The composition of the rest of the stones were urate in 7%, struvite in 1% and cystine in 1%.
Conclusions
: Urolithiasis is a common disease in the Kuwait region that mainly presents with flank
pain. Ureteroscopic calculus removal is the most common modality of treatment. The majority of
the calculi seen in Kuwait contained calcium.