Treatment of urinary tract stones

  Urinary stones refer to kidney stones, ureteral stones and bladder stones. Most of them occur in adults. In pediatric patients, such as the problematic milk powder incident some time ago, the toxic substances in the body are excreted in the urine and accumulate in the kidney, causing stone crystals to form, mainly due to dietary factors. Bladder stones, which used to occur due to malnutrition in children, are now rare. Stones mainly occur in the kidneys and bladder, but not in the ureter, which is where most of the kidney stones are found in the process of expulsion.  The exact mechanism of stone formation is still not fully understood, despite years of research by scientists. Although the concentration of solutes in urine has reached dozens of times the saturated concentration of normal solutions, stones do not precipitate in normal urine because the composition of urine is very complex, and there are many ingredients that promote the dissolution of substances in urine, such as some proteins and citric acid. The formation of stones can also only be formed if there is an initial core of stones, that is, only if there is a foreign body or something to attach to in the urine, the stones can further increase in size and form. Therefore, stones are more likely to form if there is a foreign body in the urinary tract, or if there is an infection, or if there has been previous surgery.  However, scientists have found that there are some conditions that are prone to stone formation, such as obese patients and diabetic patients are very prone to stone disease and are susceptible to stone formation. In addition osteoporosis, prolonged bed rest, and hyperthyroidism are all prone to stones. Difficulty in urination, prostate enlargement, and inability to drain urine in the elderly are also causes of bladder stones.  For urinary stones, most of them can now be treated by non-surgical methods. For small initial stones, you can use more water with a variety of lithotriptic drugs to expel the stones. For slightly larger stones, extracorporeal lithotripsy can be used and most stones can be treated. Only a few patients with stones, either because they are huge or because after repeated medications or extracorporeal lithotripsy have failed, can be treated with minimally invasive surgery, which is now called percutaneous nephrolithoscopic ureteroscopy, to remove the stones.  For small stones located in the kidney, especially deep in the kidney, calyx stones, diverticulum stones, etc., which the patient does not feel anything, but only found during the checkup, you can drink more water, take some lithotripsy drugs and review the ultrasound regularly, because on the one hand, such stones usually do not have any symptoms, the patient does not have any pain, on the other hand, it does not do any harm to the patient, as long as it does not On the other hand, it is not harmful to the patient, as long as it does not grow, there is no symptom, after medication, or drink more water, although it does not disappear, it does not matter, if the patient can adhere to the medication, it is possible to eliminate the stones. Nowadays, some lithotripsy drugs are very effective in removing stones when combined with changes in the patient’s habits. If such stones are combined with extracorporeal lithotripsy, it can speed up the discharge of stones.  Many patients with stones are found to have kidney or ureteral stones after a sudden onset of lumbar pain and hematuria, and in such cases, the stones are obstructed in the process of expulsion, causing severe colic. In this case, the best treatment is to apply pain medication to relieve the pain first, and then use extracorporeal vibration wave lithotripsy plus anti-inflammatory pain medication.