Objective To report our experience of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for patients with urinary calculi. Methods From Jun. 1987 to Dec. 2005, a total of 10100 patients with urinary calculi in the kidney or ureter accepted ESWL. The kidney stones were sorted by FDA standard. The ureteric stone was sorted by its site and retrograde pyelography. At the same time, we summarized the recurrence of kidney stone and its relationship between extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and hypertension. Results The efficacy for class Ⅰ kidney stone was 91.2% that for class Ⅱ 86.5% and class Ⅲ 72. 3%, the healing rate for ureteric stone was 84.5%. Combined retrograde pyelography and ESWL could improve the efficacy. If ESWL failed,the ureteric stone could still be removed by operation or ureterscopy (1.1%). The rate of recurrence of kidney stone was 6.1% and the incidence of hypertension post-treatment reached 7.9%. Conclusion ESWL is a preferred approach to treat urinary calculi.