ABSTRACT
More than a million cases of urolithiasis occur each year in the United States. Renal stones are one of the most painful disorders that a human can experience, and indeed have been known for centuries. Stones have been found in 7000-year-old Egyptian mummies. The management of calculous disease has changed with the advent of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, percutaneous nephrolithotripsy, ureteroscopy with use of different fragmentation devices, and, recently, laparoscopy in the armamentarium of urologist (1).
