Kidney stones are formed when minerals or salts are deposited in the kidney of a person. With the passage of time these stones become larger and start to irritate in urination or gives the person an infection. If the stones are smaller, they pass while urination when you drink a lot of liquid. However, if the stones are larger, they have to be physically removed by an urologist. Lazare Urology is a urological hospital in Brooklyn which helps you through these issues.
When you are diagnosed with kidney stones, a doctor will normally decide which procedure is best for you. He will give you options of the procedure, if it is possible for him. The procedure to be undertaken depends on the size of your kidney stone. You will be asked to do certain tests if you have kidney stones. Blood tests, urine tests, ultra sounds, etc. are done to determine the size and place of the kidney stone.
Normally removal of the kidney stones is done through the following procedures:
- Drinking water
When the kidney stones are small enough, you can drink enough water which will help you to flush out your urinary system to remove the stones. Generally doctors recommend 3 liters of water a day.
- Pain relievers
Your doctor can recommend you take mild pain relievers for the time till the stone is flushed out of your system.
- Medicines
There are medicines which will help you to relax the muscles of the ureter to pass the kidney stone through the urine in a easy way.
- Ureteroscopy and Laser Lithotripsy
If the size of the kidney stone is small somewhere around 20 mm, this procedure is adopted. In this procedure, the patient is given general or spinal anesthesia. A small fiber-optic telescope is inserted in the ureter. The stone is disintegrated into small pieces before removing. This procedure is low in risk.
- Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy
Shock waves are given to the patient to break the stone into pieces. This is a safe method as the machine is placed outside the body of the patient.
- Surgery
A surgery is performed by the doctor to remove the kidney stones if they are large. Small telescope and other instruments are inserted through a incision in the back of the patient.