Although manyalternative treatment technics have been proposed recently for gallstone to substitute cholecystectomy the extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for gallbladder stones has rarely been tried. We have carried out a series of experiments to evaluate how effective the ESWL for gallbladder stones in and how safe this procedure is. At first in vitro shock wave application was carried out to 10 gallbladder stones which were obtained from human gallbladder. Secondly gallbladder stones were implanted to canine gallbladder and treated with shock wave Lastly a total of 41 volunteers with confirmed gallbladder stones were treated with shock wave and combined oral administration of ursodeoxycholic acid. In the in vitro experiment aoo of the 10 gallstones were fragmented with variable firing rates and duration. In animal experiment the implanted stones were successfully fragmented and the organs included in the pathway of shock wave were proved to be intact histologically. in juman study complete disappearance of gallstones was noted in 78.6% of patients with single radiolucent gallbladder stones smaller than 2.5cm in the longest diameter. two patients underwent cholecystectomy after ESWL due to sudden colic attack, Onee patient had experienced and episode of mild transient obstructive jaundice. It may be concluded that the ESWL for gallbladder stones is an effective and safe method of treatment of gallbladder stones in the selected cases for example small radiolucent stones and the further study is needed to establish improved technology og the ESWL for gallbladder stones.