Kidney Stone
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Description:
Kidney stones are abnormal, hard, chemical deposits that form inside the kidneys. Kidney stones are often as small as grains of sand and pass out of the body in urine without causing discomfort. The deposits can be the size of a pea, a marble or even larger. Some of these larger stones are too big to be flushed from the kidney. Others travel into the narrow tube between the kidney and bladder (ureter), where they become trapped. Trapped kidney stones can cause many different problems including extreme pain, blocked urine flow and bleeding from the walls of the urinary tract.
Symptoms:
A lot of the times kidney stones can pass through without any symptoms at all. Larger stones can cause symptoms listed below:
Diagnosis:
Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and about any change in the color of your urine. They will ask about your family history of kidney stones, and if you have ever had a gout (arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in blood and causes joint inflammation). Your doctor can use different tests including x-rays, CT scans or ultrasounds to look for a kidney stone and see if/ where it is trapped. If it can be collected from your urine and used for chemical analysis tests. Your blood and urine can be used to identify a treatable cause of the stone. If you do not have any symptoms and you find a small kidney stone in your urine, strain out the stone and save it for your doctor. Your doctor can send the stone to a medical laboratory for chemical analysis.
General Information:
Kidney stones are abnormal, hard, chemical deposits that form inside the kidneys. Kidney stones are often as small as grains of sand and pass out of the body in urine without causing discomfort. The deposits can be the size of a pea, a marble or even larger. Some of these larger stones are too big to be flushed from the kidney. Others travel into the narrow tube between the kidney and bladder (ureter), where they become trapped. Trapped kidney stones can cause many different problems including extreme pain, blocked urine flow and bleeding from the walls of the urinary tract.
Symptoms:
A lot of the times kidney stones can pass through without any symptoms at all. Larger stones can cause symptoms listed below:
- causing severe pain in the back or side
- nausea and vomiting
- blood in the urine
Diagnosis:
Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and about any change in the color of your urine. They will ask about your family history of kidney stones, and if you have ever had a gout (arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in blood and causes joint inflammation). Your doctor can use different tests including x-rays, CT scans or ultrasounds to look for a kidney stone and see if/ where it is trapped. If it can be collected from your urine and used for chemical analysis tests. Your blood and urine can be used to identify a treatable cause of the stone. If you do not have any symptoms and you find a small kidney stone in your urine, strain out the stone and save it for your doctor. Your doctor can send the stone to a medical laboratory for chemical analysis.
General Information:
- Kidney stones are a very common problem, affecting 10% of people in the United States
- Trapped kidney stones can lead to a urinary tract infection.
- It is rare that surgery is required to remove a kidney stone.
- There are 4 different types of kidney stones: struvite stones, uric acid stones, cystine stones, and calcium oxalate stones.