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Evidence summaries

Water for Preventing Urinary Calculi

Increased water intake appears to reduce the recurrence of urinary calculi. Level of evidence: "B"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included one study with a total of 199 subjects. The recurrence rate of urinary stones was lower in the increased water intake group than that of the no intervention group (12% versus 27%, RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.84). The average interval for recurrences was 3.23 ± 1.1 years in increased water intake group and 2.09 ± 1.37 years in the no intervention group (MD 1.14, 95% CI 0.33 to 1.95). No trials of increased water intake for the primary prevention of urinary calculi met the inclusion criteria.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by imprecise results (few patients and wide confidence intervals).

References

  • Bao Y, Wei Q. Water for preventing urinary stones. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;(6):CD004292. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords