Percutaneous endoscopic treatment for urinary stones in pediatric patients: where we are now

Urinary tract stones represents still an emerging problem not only in adult patients, but also in pediatric age. Renal and ureteral calculi seem to present increasing frequency in western countries during the last five decades, if compared to the lower tract urinary stones that are more commonly observed in tertiary world countries (1,2). Dietary factors, malnutrition or hyperproteic alimentation, metabolic abnormalities and environmental changes have been postulated as influencing the urinary stone development in children growing up in different socio-economical situations (3,4)