Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy To Remove Kidney Stones

Kidney stones is one of the most painful of the urologic disorders. Most kidney stones pass out of the body without any intervention by a physician. Stones that cause lasting symptoms or other complications may be treated by various techniques, most of which do not involve major surgery. Men tend to be affected more frequently than women.

What Is A Kidney Stone And How Can It Be Treated

A kidney stone is a hard mass developed from crystals that separate from the urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney. Kidney stones may contain various combinations of chemicals. The most common type of stone contains calcium in combination with either oxalate or phosphate. Cystinuria and hyperoxaluria are two other rare, inherited metabolic disorders that often cause kidney stones. Extreme pain, which occurs when a stone acutely blocks the flow of urine, is the first symptom of kidney stone. The pain is sharp and cramping , and is felt in the back , near the kidney area and in the lower abdomen. Sometimes nausea and vomiting occur. Later, pain may spread to the groin. The doctor may prescribe certain medications to prevent calcium and uric acid stones. These drugs control the amount of acid or alkali in the urine. Surgery should be reserved as an option for cases where other approaches have failed. The different types of surgery are

1. Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) is the most frequently used procedure for the treatment of kidney stones.
2. Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
3. Ureteroscopic Stone Removal

Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Or Nephrolithotripsy For Kidney Stones

In this treatment , the surgeon makes a small incision in the back to remove the kidney stones. In nephrolithotomy, the surgeon removes the stone through the tube. The surgeon breaks the stone and then removes the fragments of the stone through the tube. This procedure is used for treating kidney stones larger than 2cm diameter, such as staghorn calculi. The surgeon has to remove very fragment of a staghorn calculus to prevent the stone from returning. Though this procedure is very effective to treat the larger kidney stones there are also some risk factors to this procedure. The risk factors are :
1. Bleeding
2. perforation in the Kidney
3. injury to organs like bladder and colon
4. Damage that may affect the normal functioning of the kidney.

However, if the surgery is done by a competent surgeon , then there is no fear of the risk factors.