Kidney Stone Removal Methods
Kidney stone removal is generally accomplished without any medical help. Most of the time, a person with kidney stones drinks gallons of water and suffers unspeakable pain until the kidney stone travels out of their body on its own. Since kidney stones will most frequently exit the body with no doctor intervention, they are usually left to do just that, despite the intensely excruciating pain.
There are times when kidney stone removal must be done with some type of surgical procedure. In most cases, this happens when the stone is simply too large to pass on its own. Other situations that required medical attention are when the kidney stone is blocking the urinary tract, causing kidney damage or bleeding, or the pain is just too severe to live with.
Kidney Stone Removal: Electrohydraulic Lithotripsy (EHL)
In this procedure, a flexible probe is inserted that uses electricity to administer shock waves that bust up the kidney stone into tiny pieces. Once the stone is destroyed, the fragments may be removed or left to pass in the patient's urine. This process can be used on kidney stones anywhere within the urinary tract.
Kidney Stone Removal: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL)
This procedure does not involve any probes or insertions. It uses impulses generated from outside the body to crush the kidney stones into sand-like pieces that will be removed easily within the urine. This method cannot be used for pregnant women or on stones larger than 1-inch in diameter.
Kidney Stone Removal: Lithotripsy
Most commonly used when the kidney stone is in the upper section of the ureter, this procedure uses a probe or other instrument to break up the kidney stone into very small particles that can be easily passed in urine. Lithotripsy works best with kidney stones that are on the smaller side.
Kidney Stone Removal: Percutaneous Nephrostolithotomy (PCN)
PCN is more like a typical surgery in that it requires cutting. With this kidney stone removal method, a surgeon makes a small incision in the patient's back and then uses surgical instruments to break up or remove the kidney stones. This procedure is very effective for removing larger kidney stones. The downside is, it comes with a hospital stay.
Kidney Stone Removal: Ultrasonic Lithotripsy
This kidney stone removal method uses an electronic probe to deliver high-frequency sound waves to the location of the kidney stone. The waves shatter the kidney stone into small pieces that are either passed naturally or extracted during the procedure.
Kidney Stone Removal: Ureteroscopic Stone Removal and Ureteroscopy
In this procedure, a fiber optic instrument called a ureteroscope is used to remove a kidney stone that is lodged in the ureter. The ureteroscope, which looks like an extra- small telescope, goes into the body through the ureter and passes through the bladder until it reaches the location of the kidney stone. At this point, the stone is either removed with the ureteroscope or broken into pieces with a laser or something similar. The smaller pieces can now pass easily out of the body.
These kidney stone removal procedures are all last resorts used when a kidney stone does not pass out of the body on its own.