Introduction

Kidney stones are solid masses or crystals that form from substances (like minerals, acids and salts) in your kidneys. They can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a pebble. A few are as large as a golf ball. Kidney stones are also called renal calculi or nephrolithiasis.

  • Smaller stones can pass through your urinary track in your pee with no symptoms.
  • Large kidney stones can get trapped in your ureter (the tube that drains urine from your kidney down to your bladder).This can cause pee to back up and limit your kidney’s ability to filter waste from your It can also cause bleeding.
  • It can take as long as three weeks for kidney stones to pass on their own.
  • Even some small stones can cause extreme pain as they go through your urinary tract and out of your
  • You may need a provider to break up and remove a stone that can’t pass on its own.

Causes

Your pee contains minerals, acids and other substances, like calcium, sodium, oxalate and uric acid. When you have too many particles of these substances in your pee and too little liquid, they can start to stick together, forming crystals or stones. Kidney stones can form over months or years.

Types of kidney stones

Stones are named for the type of crystals they’re made up of:

  1.    Calcium-oxalate and Calcium phosphate stones :Calcium-based stones can form when you eathigh-oxalate or low-calcium foods and aren’t drinking enough fluids. Calcium-oxalate stones are the most common type of kidney stones.
  2. Uric acid stones : Eating animal proteins (beef, poultry, pork, eggs and fish) can cause uric acid stone
  3. Struvite stones : Bacterial infections can cause struvite Repeated infections can lead staghorn calculus, a very large kidney stone that usually needs to be surgically removed Cystine stones
  4. Drinking water : Drinking as much as 2 to 3 quarts (1.8 to 6 liters) a day likely will keep your urine dilute and may prevent stones from forming. Unless your healthcare professional tells you otherwise, drink enough fluid. It’s ideal to mainly drink water to produce clear or nearly clear urine.
  5. Pain relievers : Passing a small stone can cause mild to serious discomfort. To relieve mild pain, your healthcare professional may recommend pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve). For serious pain, other treatments in the emergency room may be
  6. Other medicines : Your healthcare professional may give you a medicine to help pass your kidney stone. This type of medicine is known as an alpha It relaxes the muscles in your ureter. This helps you pass the kidney stone more quickly and with less pain. Examples of alpha blockers include tamsulosin (Flomax) and the drug combination dutasteride and tamsulosin (Jalyn).These stones form in people with a rare genetic condition called cystinuria that causes the kidneys to leak too much of a protein building block called cystine.

Symptoms

  • The most common symptom of kidney stones is pain in your lower back, belly or side flank pain.
  • It might feel like it extends from your groin to your
  • It can be a dull pain or sharp and
  • It’s sometimes called colicky pain because it can get worse in waves.
  • Pain or a burning feeling while

Other kidney stone symptoms include :

  • A constant need to urinate, urinating more often than usual or urinating in small amounts.
  • Cloudy or foul-smelling
  • Pink, red or brown
  • Fever and chills if an infection is
  • Nausea and

Risk factors

Factors that raise your risk of kidney stones include:

  • Don’t drink enough
  • Eat meat and other protein-rich
  • Eat foods high in sodium or
  • Take vitamin C
  • Have a family history of kidney
  • Have a blockage in your urinary
  • Have had stomach or intestine surgery, including gastric bypass surgery.
  • Take certain medications. This includes some diuretics, calcium based antacids, and some anti-seizure

Complications

  • A blockage that backs pee up into your kidney, causing it to swell (hydronephrosis)
  • Kidney infection (pyelonephritis)
  • Acute kidney injury (a type of kidney failure that can be reversible).
  • Frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs).
  • Chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Diagnosis

  1. Blood tests : Blood tests may reveal too much calcium or uric acid in your Blood test results help track the health of your kidneys. These results also may lead your healthcare professional to check for other health conditions.
  2. Urine test : Your healthcare professional may ask you to collect samples of your urine over 24 hours. The 24-hour urine collection test may show that your body is releasing too many stone-forming minerals or too few substances that prevent stones. Follow your healthcare professional’s instructions closely. Collecting the urine appropriately is key to make changes in your treatment plan to prevent new stones from forming.
  3. Imaging : Imaging tests such as CT scans may show kidney stones in your urinary tract. An advanced scan known as a high-speed or dual energy CT scan may help find tiny uric acid stones. Simple X-rays of the stomach area, also called the abdomen, are used less often. That’s because this kind of imaging test can miss small kidney stones. Ultrasound is another imaging option to diagnose kidney stones.
  4. Analysis of passed stones : You may be asked to urinate through a strainer to catch any stones that you pass. Then a lab checks the chemical makeup of your kidney Your healthcare professional uses this information to find out what’s causing your kidney stones and to form a plan to prevent more kidney stones.
  5. Genetic testing : Some rare conditions that pass from parent to child make kidney stones more likely. For instance, having cystinuria raises the risk of cystine stones. Primary hyperoxaluria raises the risk of calcium oxalate stones. If your healthcare professional thinks you might have such a condition, your healthcare professional may recommend genetic testing to find out for

Prevention

  • Drink water throughout the day : This is the most important lifestyle change you can If you’ve had kidney stones before, your healthcare professional may tell you to drink enough fluids to pass about 2.1 quarts (2 liters) of urine a day or more. If you live in a hot, dry climate or you exercise often, you may need to drink even more water to produce enough urine. If your urine is light and clear, you’re likely drinking enough water.
  • Eat fewer oxalate-rich foods : If you tend to form calcium oxalate stones, your healthcare professional may recommend limiting foods rich in These include rhubarb, beets, okra, spinach, Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, nuts, tea, chocolate, black pepper, sesame or tahini products, and soy products.
  • Choose a diet low in sodium and animal protein : Lower the amount of sodium you eat. And choose protein sources that don’t come from meat or fish, such as legumes. Think about using a salt substitute to flavor foods.
  • Keep eating calcium-rich foods, but use caution with calcium supplements : Calcium in food doesn’t have an effect on your risk of kidney stones. Keep eating calcium-rich foods unless your healthcare professional recommends otherwise. Ask your healthcare professional before taking calcium supplements. These have been linked with a higher risk of kidney stones. You may lower the risk by taking supplements with meals. Diets low in calcium can make kidney stones more likely to form in some

Treatment

Treatment for kidney stones varies. It depends on the type of stone and the cause.

  • Small stones with few symptoms:Most small kidney stones don’t require invasive treatment such as surgery. You may be able to pass a small stone by:
  • Drinking water : Drinking as much as 2 to 3 quarts (1.8 to 3.6 liters) a day likely will keep your urine dilute andmay prevent stones from forming. Unless your healthcare professional tells you otherwise, drink enough fluid. It’s ideal to mainly drink water to produce clear or nearly clear urine.
  • Pain relievers : Passing a small stone can cause mild to serious discomfort. To relieve mild pain, your healthcare professional may recommend pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve). For serious pain, other treatments in the emergency room may be needed.
  • Other medicines : Your healthcare professional may give you a medicine to help pass your kidney stone. This type of medicine is known as an alpha blocker. It relaxes the muscles in your ureter. This helps you pass the kidney stone more quickly and with less pain. Examples of alpha blockers include tamsulosin (Flomax) and the drug combination dutasteride and tamsulosin (Jalyn).
  • Large stones and those that cause symptoms : kidney stones that can’t pass on its own or is blocking your urinary tract, your provider will recommend a procedure to break up and/or remove the stone. The type of procedure they recommend depends on many factors, including the size and location of the stone. Kidney stone procedures include:
  • Shockwave Lithotripsy : a provider uses shockwaves to break apart the stones from the outside of your body. The fragments can move through your urinary tract and out of your body more easily.
  • Ureteroscopy : a provider inserts a scope through your urethra and bladder and into your ureter. Instruments the provider passes through the scope can break up and remove the stone. The smaller pieces can move through your urinary tract and out of your body more easily.
  • Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy : Your provider may recommend percutaneous nephrolithotomy when they can’t treat a kidney stone with other procedures. During percutaneous nephrolithotomy, your provider inserts a tube directly into your kidney through a tiny incision (cut) in your back. An ultrasound probe breaks apart and removes the stones.
  • Laparoscopic surgery : During laparoscopic surgery, your provider makes a small incision to remove the stone. In some rare cases, your provider might need to perform open surgery (with a larger incision) instead of laparoscopy.