Prophylaxis of Calcium Oxalate Stones : Clinical Trials of Allopurinol, Magnesium Hydroxide and Chlorthalidone

Abstract

Despite numerous reports of kidney stone prophylaxis, there is still considerable controversy about the effectiveness of any regimen. Most published clinical trials suffer from one or more of the following faults: (i) lack of an adequate number of subjects, (ii) lack of an adequate follow-up time, (iii) lack of an objective end-point and (iv) lack of an adequate comparison group. We decided to carry out three double-blind controlled clinical trials to test adequately the effectiveness of magnesium hydroxide, chlorthalidone or allopurinol.