Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Nephrol. Nov 6, 2015; 4(5): 492-499
Published online Nov 6, 2015. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v4.i5.492
Medical and alternative therapies in urinary tract stone disease
Ercan Yuvanc, Erdal Yilmaz, Devrim Tuglu, Ertan Batislam
Ercan Yuvanc, Erdal Yilmaz, Devrim Tuglu, Ertan Batislam, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kirikkale, 71450 Kirikkale, Turkey
Author contributions: Yuvanc E and Yilmaz E designed the study; Tuglu D assisted with the collection of references; and Batislam E assisted with editing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Erdal Yilmaz, MD, Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kirikkale, Tip Fakultesi, Uroloji AD, 4. Kat, 71450 Kirikkale, Turkey. erdaly69@mynet.com
Telephone: +90-318-2252820 Fax: +90-318-2252819
Received: July 7, 2014
Peer-review started: July 8, 2014
First decision: August 14, 2014
Revised: August 24, 2015
Accepted: September 1, 2015
Article in press: September 2, 2015
Published online: November 6, 2015
Processing time: 492 Days and 21.2 Hours
Abstract

Nephrolithiasis is a serious problem for both patients and the health system. Recurrence stands out as a significant problem in urinary system stone disease, the prevalence of which is increasing gradually. If recurrence is not prevented, patients may go through recurrent operations due to nephrolithiasis. While classical therapeutic options are available for all stone types, the number of randomized controlled studies and extensive meta-analyses focusing on their efficiency are inadequate. Various alternative therapeutic options to these medical therapies also stand out in recent years. The etiology of urolithiasis is multifactorial and not always related to nutritional factors. Nutrition therapy seems to be useful, either along with pharmacological therapy or as a monotherapy. General nutrition guidelines are useful in promoting public health and developing nutrition plans that reduce the risk or attenuate the effects of diseases affected by nutrition. Nutrition therapy involves the evaluation of a patient’s nutritional state and intake, the diagnosis of nutrition risk factors, and the organization and application of a nutrition program. The main target is the reduction or prevention of calculus formation and growth via decreasing lithogenic risk factors and increasing lithogenic inhibitors in urine. This review focuses briefly on classical medical therapy, along with alternative options, related diets, and medical expulsive therapy.

Keywords: Urolithiasis; Prevention; Stone medical therapy; Nutrition therapy; Diet; Hypercalciuria; Hyperoxaluria; Hyperuricosuria; Hypocitraturia; Cysteine stones

Core tip: Nephrolithiasis is a serious problem for both patients and the health system. Recurrence stands out as a significant problem in urinary system stone disease, the prevalence of which is increasing gradually. While classical therapeutic options are available for all stone types, the number of randomized controlled studies and extensive meta-analyses focusing on their efficiency are inadequate. Various alternative therapeutic options to these medical therapies also stand out in recent years. This review focuses briefly on classical medical therapy, along with alternative options, related diets, and medical expulsive therapy.