Evoluția tratamentului litiazei urinare în decursul istoriei

Abstract

Urolithiasis is one of the oldest diseases known in the medical history. We can find informations related to the signs, symptoms and treatment of urinary stones in the most ancient chronicles. Lithotomy (the removal of bladder stones) was performed since antiquity, being the only treatment for bladder calculi until the late XVIIIth century and is one of the oldest elective surgical procedures recorded. However, surgical treatment for renal and urethral stones was not possible until the discovery of X-ray. It was the end of the XIXth century that brought major technological breakthroughs, which led to a radical change in diagnosis and treatment of urolithiasis. In this paper we try to trace back the changes and evolution of concepts in diagnosis and treatment of urinary stone disease, related to the main historical periods.