Conservative Treatment of Urolithiasis in Ukraine Through the Eyes of Doctors: Myths and Reality

Abstract

The article provides data from a survey of urologists of Ukraine (337 people) about the practical aspects of conservative treatment of urolithiasis, which data were compared with the recommendations of the European Association of Urology (EAU). The real possibilities of using the recommended methods in practice were analyzed separately. The survey found that the half of urologists (50.6%) often or always referred patients for a chemical analysis of the stone, and 69.6% – for metabolic blood and urine tests. Quite often, phytopreparations are used to treat urolithiasis as a kind of alternative to synthetic drugs. Ninety-five percent of the urologists surveyed use herbal medicine, 47% often use a combination of herbal remedies, and 27% of doctors use herbal remedies for 2 months or more. Almost half of urologists note that when prescribing a specific herbal remedy, they are guided by the protocols for the treatment of urolithiasis (46%), although phytopreparations are not analyzed in official protocols Such a large number of tests is practically impossible to perform in Ukraine, which makes impossible to implement the EAU recommendations in practice. In this situation, herbal remedies are a viable alternative of treatment of urolithiasis that cannot be used without these examinations.