The term “Endourology” has been adopted for the minimally invasive endoscopic surgery of upper urinary calculus disease. Since the introduction of shock wave lithotripsy, this modality has become the most common form of stone therapy, allowing an almost completely hands-off treatment for radio-opaque calculi. Due to the technological advances of endourologic procedures such as ureteroscopy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL), the incidence of open kidney stone surgery is almost non-existent. Due to the popularity of the daVinci robot (Intuitive, CA), traditional open calculus surgeries are being performed robotically for stones that would otherwise require several endoscopic procedures. It is important to note that as advanced as surgical intervention has evolved for nephrolithiasis, medical management and prevention of complicated urolithiasis still fall short of the ideal.

Nephrolithiasis affects as much as 12% of the population in industrialized nations. Urolithiasis patients will agree that the sensation of stone passage is perhaps the most painful and intense experience of their lives, surpassing even childbirth. Urolithiasis may present as hematuria (ranging from asymptomatic microscopic hematuria to painful gross hematuria), abdominal/flank/back pain, urinary tract infection, renal failure, or as an incidental radiologic finding.