Some stones thrive in acid urine, others in alkaline. Medicines and special diets, such as an acid ash diet, may help to maintain desired balances and deter future stone formation. There are other medical measures which a doctor can institute from his special knowledge of the patient's body chemistry and physical condition. It is of immediate importance to remove stones that are causing serious trouble, and this generally requires surgery . Sometimes it is desirable to remove the entire kidney, if its function has been markedly impaired by a large stone or stones, and if the remaining kidney is healthy and quite capable of continuing the labors that it has shouldered anyhow. Naturally, it is far more desirable for a person who is susceptible to stone formation to cooperate with his doctor in regular checkups, with x-rays and other measures, which may keep trouble from progressing and do everything possible to avert eventual surgical removal of a kidney.
Symptoms Of Kidney Stones
Some stones cause no symptoms, at least for a long time. Fine crystals, no larger than grains of sand, may pass down the ureter and to the outside world without the patient's being aware of it. Some "silent" stones are too large to enter or obstruct the ureter, but they may move about in the kidney and do quiet injury to delicate tissues. Some stones may practically fill the kidney pelvis and take on the irregular shape of the cavity, like a cast. These are called "stag horn" calculi from their antler like appearance. person who experiences it. The agony is caused by a stone which enters the ureter and works its way down, gouging as it goes. The pain is not necessarily felt in the mid-back, in the area memorialized by old-time advertisements for kidney nostrums, but may be referred to the pelvic region. Indeed, pain is not invariably excruciating, and the immediate symptoms may be nausea, vomiting, chills and fever.
Kidney Stones Treatment
If the stone gets stuck in the ureter, and medical measures can do little more than relieve pain, surgery will probably be necessary to remove an obstruction which can cause urine to back up, distend, and injure the tract above it most gravely. Stone-harried kidneys generally are more prone to infections; modern antibacterial drugs afford potent measures of control.
Often a stone passes into the bladder and acute pain subsides. Bladder stones are relatively easy to remove with instruments which leave no operative scar. The surgical instrument is inserted through the urethra, the stone grasped and crushed, and the particles withdrawn. Occasionally, a stone will lodge in the urethra and prevent urination. Its removal is comparatively easy and always an immense relief to the patient.
No comments:
Post a Comment