The Life of Kidney Stones David Ayonon University of Phoenix Introduction to Research and Information Utilization Roland Marcello May 13, 2010 The Life of Kidney Stones Each year, more than half a million people go to the emergency room for Kidney Stone problems (Kidney Stone Foundation, 2010). The medical term your doctor may use instead of Kidney Stones is Renal Calculus. Although Kidney Stones can be prevented, one in ten people will have Kidney Stones at some time in their lives (Kidney Stone Foundation, 2010). Kidney Stones find their way out of the human body through urine.
This causes severe pain in the back and side of the body near kidney area or in the lower abdomen. Medical doctors say that Kidney Stone problems will cause one of the most painful experiences that someone could ever experience. A Kidney Stone is a rocklike substance made up of tiny crystals of calcium in the urine. The stones are usually yellow or brown and it can transform into different shapes and sizes. There are four different types of stones, but most people usually develop just one type. These main types of stones are Calcium Stones, Struvite Stones, Uric Acid Stones, and Cystine Stones (NIDDK, 2007).
Kidney Stones form in the kidneys and try to pass through the Ureter to get inside of the bladder. If the stone is too big to pass through the Ureter, then this is when people experience severe pain. The main symptom for Kidney Stones is severe pain that starts suddenly around the kidney area and may start moving toward the groin or testicles. Other symptoms would include abnormal urine color, blood in the urine, nausea, vomiting, chills and fever. If someone experiences any of these symptoms, they should immediately call the doctor for medical treatment.
After your health history and exam, the doctor will suggest blood tests, CT scans, urinalysis and other imaging test to help find out the size and location of the stones. After the diagnostic tests, the doctor will discuss your test results. Treatment plans are in place to relieve and prevent further symptoms. Treatment varies because it depends on size, location, type of stones, and how severe the symptoms are. Small stones are able to pass through the Urinary Tract naturally with no problems, but larger stones will block the flow of urine in the kidneys causing severe symptoms.
A person with severe symptoms should seek medical treatment right away. Surgery is rarely needed for Kidney Stones and is considered as a last resort. However, if other types of treatments fail, then Kidney Stone surgery might be the right and only option for this person. Surgery was necessary to remove Kidney Stones in the past and it took weeks before someone could recover from this type of procedure. Treatment for Kidney Stones has improved tremendously and now has many options that don’t require surgery. The expected time to recover has improved from what seem to take weeks before, now take hours.
It all depends on how severe the persons situation. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL), Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy, and Ureteroscopic Stone Removal are alternative procedures that doctors may suggest for Kidney Stone problems. In ESWL, shock waves are placed accurately on the outside of the body around the kidney area (NIDDK, 2007). The shock waves break up the large stones into tiny pieces, small enough to pass through the Urinary Tract in the urine. In different circumstances, the surgeon will place a Stent in to the Uterer to help the fragments pass out of the body.
Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy treatment is used when the stone is quite large or in a location that doesn’t allow the ESWL to work effectively (NIDDK, 2007). The surgeon cuts a small incision in the back of patient making a direct path to the kidney. The surgeon will then use a Nephoroscope to take the small fragments out of the body. Ureteroscopic Stone removal is a procedure for stones in the mid- to lower-ureter. No incision is needed; but the surgeon passes a small fiberoptic instrument called Ureteroscopic through the Urethra and bladder into the Ureter (NIDDK, 2007).
The surgeon then removes the stone with special instrument that can produce shock waves. If you ever had a Kidney Stone, then you are most likely to have another stone in the future. Drink a lot of fluids, follow a healthy diet and work with your doctor to stay healthier, are some ways to prevent these stones from happening. Staying hydrated helps flush minerals out of the kidneys before they can build up and form stones. Drinking water is the best method to prevent Kidney Stones. Eating healthy helps maintain normal levels of minerals in your urine.
Avoid eating high-oxalate foods and drinks such as chocolate, nuts, leafy green vegetables, black tea and soda. In conclusion, people who experienced the passing of a Kidney Stone know how painful it really can be. Some women said that the pain is the closes feeling next to giving birth to a child. The advancements in technology have made it easier to treat and remove Kidney Stones when necessary, including cutting recovery time into a fraction of what it used to be. People tend to take things for granted when nothing is wrong with their body, only those who have experienced them understand the severity of the situation.
Then again some cases are mild and others can be severe, but whatever the case maybe, living a safe and healthy life style while drinking lots of water can prevent these Kidney Stones from happening. References National Kidney Foundation. (2010). Kidney Stones. Retrieved from http://www. kidney. org/atoz/content/kidneystones. cfm National Institute of Diebetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK). (2007). National Kidney and Urologic Information Clearhouse (NKUDIC). Retrieved from http://kidney. niddk. nih. gov/kudiseases/pubs/stones_ez/
