THE WIKI COMMUNITY

Saturday 21 August 2010

Kidney Stone Treatment

By Kenneth Burnett

Unless they sense pain and give of blood in their urine, people will not go to a doctor for a kidney stones medical checkup. This is because individuals incline to disregard the severity of the medical condition and its potential complications once not diagnosed and cared for early.

Medical Experts say that the problem why individuals who are uneasy from kidney stones is that they always tend to be complacent in keeping up with a healthy diet and regular exercise. They-deliberately or not deliberately-without realizing that they will suffer and spend more money once the condition gets worse over time.

The most common types of kidney stones among people are the calcium oxalate stones and uric acid stone, which are caused by too much calcium and sodium intake. These types of stones are not actually damaging unless they grow in size fast and obstruct the ureter--the tube.

Medication and Treatments Available

Today, there are so many types of treatments and medications available for people with kidney stones. These treatments may vary depending on the condition's severity. Choosing medications can be determined for certain types of people with mild kidney stones, says experts.

Medication is considered, as the initial form of treatment especially for symptomatic kidney stones which is common among patients. People showing early signs of kidney stones such as pain with varied intensity uses certain types of medication. The most common medication includes the Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs or NSAIDs like ibuprofen, which are effective in speeding up the passage of urethra stones along the ureter. These can be in some other forms, they come in pill form and can be purchased over the counter.

For severe pains, medication can be given directly through the vein to guarantee that it will take effect fast. This process of medication is also ideal for people who have low tolerance in taking oral pills. If NSAIDs can't be given at once, fluids can be given to the patient struggling from the pain of kidney stones through the oral cavity to see to it that there will be adequate supply of fluid for the urine.

Although medicines can be given at home, there will be times that the patient is required to be taken to the hospital specially if the painful sensation does not lessen right away. Once hospitalized, the patient will be asked to strain urine in order to cover the stone and collected for laboratory analysis. Here, the type of stone will be determined as well as its size and number through an imaging test. For kidney stones which are smaller than 5 millimeters it is risk-free to take medication. But if the stone is about 10 millimeters, you will need to undergo a procedure such as:

- Shock Wave Lithotripsy (SWL) which is the most common option of procedure because it can easily remove stones in the renal pelvis and upper ureter. This process demands x-ray or ultrasound to find out the right positioning of the kidney stone and uses a high-energy shock wave to get rid of the stone by breaking it into pieces. However, this is not effective for hard, large, and complicated types of stones.

- Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PNL), on the other hand, is perfect for complicated and exceedingly large kidney stones because it affects invading surgical procedures in the process of removal which are tiny telescopic instruments passing through the person's skin.

- The process of removing stones that are obstructed in the middle and lower portion of the person's ureter is called Ureteroscopy. An instrument is slipped through the urethra into the bladder and up to the ureter which can then remove the kidney stones.

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