All you need to know about kidney stones

Kidney stones are one of the causes of kidney failure, dialysis causes great damage to health and economy for patients. Therefore, early detection and complete treatment of kidney stones is worth considering.

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1. What is kidney stones?

Kidney stones are the phenomenon of minerals in the urine depositing in the kidneys, forming stones in the long term. Small pebbles can follow the urine out, and larger stones accumulate in the kidneys, getting bigger and obstructing the urinary tract, causing kidney function to decline, especially when there is a conclusion. The combination of inflammation will easily cause kidney failure.

Kidney stones are more common in men than women, and the common age is 30 - 50 years old, rarely seen in children.

2. Symptoms of suspected kidney stones

Kidney stones are the phenomenon of minerals in the urine depositing in the kidneys and forming stones in the long term. Pebbles are created for many reasons such as drinking less water, eating more calcium, and metabolic disorders.

1. One of the earliest and most common signs in people with kidney stones is frequent and sharp urination , although the amount of water you drink doesn't change. Cold urination is caused by stones that have reached the lower part of the urinary tract (ureters, bladder).
2. Patients often experience pain in the flank and lumbar, especially where there is gravel . In some cases, the pain may move from the lower abdomen to the thigh. The patient may experience mild pain, throbbing, or even severe pain (renal colic). Men with kidney stones may also have pain in the scrotum and testicles.
3. When stones develop into large tablets, it is difficult for the patient to move, sit or lie in a certain position for a long time. Pressure on the areas affected by gravel rubbed against the internal organs, making the patient worse.
4. In addition, when this disease occurs, your urine will change color to milky, red, pus or bloody and have a bad smell, pungent due to gravel rubbing and damaging the urethra mucosa.
5. Nausea and vomiting are also common in people with kidney stones. It is easy for you to get a urinary tract infection causing fever and thorns.

Kidney stones are one of the causes of kidney failure.(Illustration)

3. Causes of kidney stones

The kidney stones that are formed may be caused by several causes, but may be due to several main causes:

1. Kidney stones caused by deposition of minerals: because you drink not enough water (especially for heavy workers), or urinate; due to urinary tract malformations or due to long-term obstruction of the urinary tract leading to stone formation. Patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia, fibroids that rise up in the bladder lumen cause urine to remain in the gap.
2. The diet is unreasonable (only eating a food bias, eating too much meat or vegetables, eating salty, too rich calcium diet .) or patients with serious injuries, must lie in one place, drink more milk, less water.
3. Genital tract infections: This cause is more common in women, because the urinary tract is shorter than the male and when the genitalia is not hygienically clean, the germs are easy to invade causing inflammation of the secretions. Urinary, pus and deposition of excretions of the body, causing stones.
4. There is a foreign object in the bladder (rare): foreign bodies (leaves, grass, straw, or urinary catheters are dropped into the bladder) for various reasons that exist in the optical state, sediment deposited minerals that make up stones.

4. Prevention of kidney stones

1. Drink plenty of water: This is the first advice doctors give you. Drinking enough water will not only make blood flow better, dissolve substances, but also make the body temperature well-regulated, helping to eliminate residues to prevent disease.
2. Limit salty intake and lower calcium intake: these are two factors that need to be restricted in your diet because they are closely related to kidney stone formation.
3. Scientific nutrition: helps provide harmonious nutritional elements, not biased in any factor.
4. Enhance drinking lemon juice: Citric acid in lemon helps prevent minerals and other components of urine from sticking together and forming kidney stones.

Patients often experience pain in the flank and lumbar, especially where there is gravel.

5. The treatments for kidney stones

In recent years, thanks to the development of the medical and pharmaceutical industry, the treatment of kidney stones and urinary stones has made great progress. Instead of having surgery, patients can use medical and surgical treatments or combine Western and Eastern medicine and other diet and exercise therapies.

The decision to choose the treatment method for kidney stones is based on criteria such as stone location, size, density of stones and kidney function .

1. Surgical treatment: for large stones or complications, it is often indicated to apply extracorporeal lithotripsy, percutaneous lithotripsy, gravel surgery . In which, external lithotripsy It can be done with a laser or shock wave to destroy the surface and smash the gravel to help the body excrete out of the urine. Patients are almost painless, this method applies to patients with stones less than 3cm.
2. Retrograde lithotripsy: the doctor will use the urethra from the urethra, to the bladder and to the ureter to access the gravel directly, using a laser or compressed air source to break the gravel, washing the pump away gravel.
3. Get kidney stones: create a tunnel into the kidney and put an endoscope with a diameter of 10-15mm to access the stone. Breaking the gravel with a laser, compressed air or ultrasound breaks the gravel and removes the gravel.
4. Laparoscopic surgery to remove stones: indicated for kidney stones, 1/3 stones on the ureter. Large gravel, strong density, difficult to spread.
5. Open surgery: currently, it is rare for patients to be appointed due to many complications, long recovery time. This method only applies to kidney stones, large ureters, poor kidney function.
6. Robot surgery: performed in developed countries, indicated for large kidney stones, shortened hospital stay (2-3 days) but very high cost.
7. Medical treatment: the patient is only given surgery when there is acute pain or difficulty urinating, even mysteriously due to a stone that blocks the urinary tract. In cases of small or uncomplicated stones, taking oral medicines to help dissolve stones will be more appropriate by safety, convenience and suitable for people who are weak or afraid of surgery.