Background and Aim: Urinary stones are considered as the third most common disorder of the urinary tract. ESWL is an effective and non-invasive treatment of urinary stones that can have adverse effects on the kidneys. Changes of Doppler indices i.e.  increased RI and PI have been used as indicators for the assessment of the damage to the kidney tissue. But damage to contralateral kidney has been a matter of controversy. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in Doppler indices in contralateral kidney after ESWL.

Material and Method: This was an analytic study and included the patients who had referred to the renal stone crusher section of Imam Reza Hospital for the first time. Doppler indices were measured in the contralateral kidney before and immediately after ESWL by Doppler ultrasonography. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 22 software and statistical tests.

Result: RI indices of major renal artery  and lobar artery in contralateral kidney increased significantly before and after ESWL from 0.59±0.04 to 0.67±0.04 (P<0.05) and from  0.59±0.02 to 0.66±0.04 (P<0.05) respectively. PI indices of major renal artery  and lobar artery  in contralateral kidney increased significantly before and after ESWL from 1.11±0.14 to 1.14±0.15 (P<0.05) and from 1.09±0.13 to 1.12±0.13 (P<0.05) respectively.

Conclusion: According to color Doppler indices, it seems that use of ESWL can cause damage to kidney tissue and lead to changes in contralateral kidney blood flow in the patients treated with ESWL.

Keywords: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, Color Doppler ultrasound, Doppler resistance index.

Received: Mar 8, 2016      Accepted: Aug 31, 2016