What is and how is a kidney stone formed?
A kidney stone is a hard, irregularly shaped mass that varies in size from a sand-sized crystal to a golf ball-sized stone. It can be a wrap or a hedgehog shape. When the stone has sharp edges, and even when it is smaller in diameter, it can injure blood vessels and narrow urinary tracts, causing bleeding and possible infection.
Kidney stones can occur due to a lack of fluid in the body, due to a high concentration of certain mineral salts, and other organic and inorganic substances in the body (calcium, oxalates, phosphates, urates, uric acid) or due to a genetic predisposition. Some disorders in the organs, disorders of the flow of urine or frequent urinary infections can lead to the formation of stones in the kidney, but also in the bladder. The formation of kidney stones is also influenced by improper diet (excessive intake of salt, industrial products, carbonated juices, etc.), as well as “sedentary” work and reduced physical activity.
What do the symptoms of kidney stones look like?
The movement of a kidney stone causes extremely strong and sudden pain. As the stone moves from the kidney to the urinary tract, the localization of the pain also changes. Some patients compare this type of pain to labor pains. This pain can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, difficult and painful urination of varying intensity or completely blocked urination (if a larger stone is stuck in the ureter), bleeding during urination (in the case of a urticarial stone) and elevated temperature (in case of infection). The stone is expelled through the urinary channels, but if the stone cannot pass by itself, then an emergency surgical intervention is performed. Because of all this, patients who once survived a kidney stone “attack” live in fear of that sudden intense pain, because they do not know if and when it will happen again.
Fortunately, kidney stones do not always cause severe pain. It simply depends on the size and shape of the stone. If the diameter of the stone is up to 3 mm and smaller – such as sand, we may not even feel the expulsion or we may have minor discomfort during urination. Stone in the stomach can be detected by ultrasound examination, while it is at rest. In relation to the size, shape and position of the stone, the doctor advises treating this condition naturally or medically.
Who gets kidney stones?
Modern life has led to an increase in patients with renal calculus. Every 10 people have experience with a stone or sand in the kidney at least once in their life. Men are affected almost 3 times more often than women, and most often they are patients in their 30s and 40s. People who have a family history of kidney stones have a greater predisposition to this disease.
How is a kidney stone treated?
There is no universal cure for kidney stones. Several methods are usually used in combination. It is definitely recommended to consume a large amount of liquid (2-3 liters) of oligomineral water, to consume teas for the kidneys and bladder; then correction of diet, more natural food, fruits, vegetables, reduced intake of salt, red meat, as well as avoiding industrial products, sweets, and finally increased physical activity. In SOME cases when the stone is smaller, these measures can lead to the spontaneous expulsion of the stone from the kidney without major problems.
However, if the stone is larger in diameter, then in addition to all the measures mentioned above, painkillers and some of the methods (ballistic, ultrasonic, laser) are introduced to break up the stone, so that it can be expelled from the body more easily.
At the Belgrade Urology Center, we have a great Quanta System, Litho Evo 35W, a laser for breaking up kidney stones . The laser is completely safe and has an enviable and improved performance that enables the urology specialist to work precisely and successfully with maximum tissue preservation. At our clinic, the laser is in the hands of the eminent Dr. Goran Savić, a specialist in urology who has decades of experience in his work (endoscopic urological operations / TURP TUR TU, internal urethrotomy, lithotripsy of stones in the bladder, ureter and kidney and open urological operations..) You can feel completely safe and secure because our team of doctors and medical staff takes care of you, from the moment you come to our clinic, until the moment of discharge.
If a kidney stone is not treated, silent kidney failure can occur, and more serious and even life-threatening complications are possible. If there is impairment of renal function, cessation of urination or severe systemic infection, surgical treatment is advised.
Was the patient cured after passing the kidney stone?
As we mentioned earlier, if the stone has sharp edges and has injured the urinary tract, short-term antibiotic therapy is introduced to prevent infection. If the stone comes out without bleeding, the urologist’s job is done. However, in a patient who has had a stone once, it shows that he has a tendency to this disease, and preventive measures are advised, i.e. changing the lifestyle and diet, especially the intake of more fluids, herbal teas, which can reduce the risk of new stone formation in kidney. On the other hand, there are patients who have a genetic predisposition to stone formation in the body. These can be some enzymatic disorders that cannot break down certain substances, so there is an accumulation of substances that the kidney cannot expel. Then it would be good, if possible, to take the ejected stone for mineralogical analysis, in order to find the reason for the formation of the stone and then take all the medical measures that can help stop this problem.
