Watch out for small stones becoming a big health killer

  Mr. Chen is in his forties, is a management in the company, young and strong, usually busy work, even have no time to drink water. But recently he fell ill. It turns out that about a year ago Mr. Chen went to the hospital to see a doctor because of kidney stones, and after examination, it was found that the size of the stones was very small and could be treated by the method of drug de-stoning. So Mr. Chen took the lithotripsy medicine according to the doctor’s prescription and went back for treatment. However, because he was busy at work and did not feel well, he did not follow the doctor’s orders for a review. As a result, this year, when the unit physical examination found that the stones not only did not drain, but also from small stones into large stones, kidneys and a lot of fluid, kidney function has been affected. Mr. Chen had to put down all the things at hand and go to the hospital again.  Due to the complexity of Mr. Chen’s condition, Dr. Xu, who saw Mr. Chen, carefully examined him and drew up several treatment plans. After discussing with Mr. Chen, he decided to choose the minimally invasive surgery of combined percutaneous nephrolithoscopy + ureteroscope. The surgery went well and Mr. Chen was discharged from the hospital soon.  Mr. Chen is a very typical patient with urinary stones who is “out of visit”. Urological stones are a common and frequent disease, and different treatment methods are available depending on the size and location of the stones. For stones that are smaller in size and more likely to pass out of the body on their own, medication can be tried for stone removal. However, in addition to drinking the right amount of water and taking lithotripsy medication, you need to pay close attention to the discharge of foreign bodies in every urination. Since stones that can be discharged on their own are usually very small and not always clear to the naked eye, it is especially important to review them after drug de-lithotripsy treatment. The doctor can confirm whether the stones are discharged from the body and whether they are still a threat to the patient’s health through urine routine, ultrasound, CT and other tests. However, some patients, like Mr. Chen, do not have a follow-up check after taking lithotripsy medication for a period of time, because they feel nothing uncomfortable or for various reasons. This is very dangerous because if the stones are not discharged from the body, they may continue to block the way out of the kidney in the body, causing hydronephrosis, damaging the kidney function and even causing hematuria and urogenic sepsis, which can be life-threatening in serious cases. In addition, because of the high recurrence of urinary stones, for people who have a history of urinary stones, it is generally recommended to have at least one to two ultrasound examinations every year to eliminate small stones in the bud and add an insurance policy for their health.