The extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter (SD-3) was used on 30 patients with upper urinary tract calculi from December, 1988 to March, 1989. At one month after the treatment, 11 patients (36.7%) were free from stones and 9 (30.0%) had stone fragments than 5 mm in diameter, making an effective rate of treatment of 66.7%. Gross hematuria, skin ecchymosis, pain and fever were observed as side effects, but none of them were serious. We concluded that extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy using SD-3 for upper urinary tract stones is an effective treatment without any serious side effects.