Letter L

Lithotriptor

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A stone crushing machine used to shatter kidney stones and gallstones by physical or other means such as with a shock wave.

There are several methods available for producing an acoustical or ultrasonic 'big bang' which can be focused from outside onto the kidney and the kidney stone.

This technique, termed extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, gives generally good results with kidney stones less than 1.5 cm (5/8th of an inch) in diameter.

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