When Will You Need Surgery For Kidney Stones?

Kidney stones are hard deposits that are found in your kidneys. They are made out of calcium or uric acid. Kidney stones start out small, but they grow bigger when more and more minerals and waste products like uric acid are added to them. The size of the kidney stone defines the amount of problems it can cause. When the stones are small, they can be passed by the urinary tract without the need for treatment. When the stones become bigger, they tend to get stuck in the urinary tract and require surgical intervention to be removed. Here are some situations where surgery is required for removing a kidney stone.

• When the stone becomes too large to be passed down your urinary tract

• When the stone is lodged somewhere in the urinary tract causing immense pain

• When the stone is disrupting the flow of urine out of your kidneys

• When the stone has caused or causing multiple urinary tract infections in your body.

These are some of the situations where surgery for kidney stones becomes necessary. Now that you know about the situations where surgery is recommended and performed. Let’s talk about the different types of surgical options that are available for treating kidney stones.

Different Types of Treatment Procedures for Kidney Stones

• Ureteroscopy

Ureteroscopy is a treatment procedure for kidney stones. This process can treat stones in both kidneys and the uterus of the patient. This procedure is performed using a flexible and thin scope to find and remove the stones lodged in your urinary tract or uterus. This procedure is non-invasive, meaning there are no cuts made on your body for removing the stones. General anaesthesia is used to put the patient to sleep for the duration of this procedure.

This procedure does not require hospital admission as the patient can be home the same day. Doctors pass a scope through your bladder, then the ureter finally reaches your kidneys. The doctors use a small basket to remove the stones when they are small; if they are larger in size, the doctors pass a laser in through the scope as well to find and break the stone into smaller pieces.

The risks associated with ureteroscopy are

• Bleeding

• Narrowing of the ureter

• Infection

• Shock Wave Lithotripsy

Shock Wave Lithotripsy (SWL) is one of the most common forms of treatment for kidney stones. This procedure is best suited for removing small and medium-sized kidney stones. SWL is also a non-invasive procedure that does not require any cuts to be made on your body. Usually, the patient is put under local anaesthesia, and they can go home the same day itself.

This procedure starts with an X-ray or ultrasound of your kidneys to find the stone or stones located inside. Upon locating the stones, the doctor uses a high-powered shockwave to break the stones down into smaller pieces. The shockwaves go through your skin and break down the pieces inside. This completes the procedure, and the patient is advised to go home and consume large amounts of liquids to flush the stones out of their system through their urine.

SWL is a safe procedure; in rare cases, if the stone does not completely pass through your urine, the procedure can be safely repeated again until all the stones or parts of the stone are completely out of your system. Some of the side effects associated with SWL include

• Damage to the kidney

• Infection

• Stone blocking the flow of urine in the urinary tract

• Bleeding in and around the kidney

• Open Surgery

Open surgeries have become a rare form of treatment for kidney stones nowadays. However, if all the other procedures fail because the stone is too big or due to other reasons, open surgery is usually the only way to treat the problem. As the name suggests, an open surgery is an invasive surgical procedure that requires hospital admission for a few days of hospital stay to keep the patient in observation.

The open surgery process starts with the doctors using anaesthesia to knock out the patient for the period of the surgery. Then the doctors cut open the patient from the side and then cut into their kidney as well. The doctors then remove the stone from the opening created in the kidney. It can take up to 4-6 weeks to fully recover from open surgery. However, surgery does not come with its own set of side effects.

Kidney stones require medical treatment, and they need to be taken out of your system most times with surgery. It is crucial for you to understand your situation and make an informed decision along with your doctor to eliminate the stones from your system safely. Now that you know in detail about the situations where you need surgery for your kidney and the types of surgical procedures that are available to you. Be sure to pick the option that is the most affordable and best suited for your problems.