This study examined the acute time course of effects of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) on renal hemodynamics in anesthetized minipigs with and without pretreatment with verapamil. We applied ESWL (2000 shocks, 24 kV, unmodified Dornier HM3), to the right kidneys of isoflurane-anesthetized female pigs. Urine flow and renal hemodynamics were monitored from each kidney via ureteral balloon catheters. Arterial blood pressure and bilateral urine flow, glomerular filtration rate (GFR, insulin clearance) and renal plasma flow (RPF, para-aminohippurate clearance) were monitored for 45 minutes before ESWL, and at 1, 4 and 24 hours after ESWL. Treatment with ESWL consistently caused unilateral hematuria and subcapsular renal hematomas in the shocked kidneys and significantly reduced GFR and RPF in those kidneys at 1 and 4 hours after ESWL. Urine flow was reduced through 24 hours in the shocked kidneys. Renal plasma flow, but not GFR, was significantly reduced in the contralateral (unshocked) kidneys at 1 and 4 hours after ESWL to the other kidneys. Verapamil blunted the ESWL-induced reductions of urine flow, GFR and RPF in the shocked kidneys and eliminated the reduction of RPF in the unshocked kidneys. These experiments demonstrate that ESWL to 1 kidney acutely impaired hemodynamics in both kidneys and that verapamil attenuated the response in the shocked kidneys and eliminated it in the contralateral unshocked kidneys.
