Urology / Nephrology
Treatment for Urethral Stones
Causes of Urethral stones
There are salts and minerals in the urine that stick together to form small “pebbles.” They are usually painless while they remain in the kidney. But they can cause severe pain when small pieces leave the kidney and travel through the narrow tubes (ureters) to the bladder. Once it is free in the renal pelvis, and passes through the ureter it can stick anywhere, but it is most likely to stick: at the pelviureteric junction, in the upper or in the lower third of the ureter, or (4) at the entry of the ureter into the bladder.
As the stone passes down the ureter, it causes severe ureteric colic, even a tiny one causes agony. It causes severe pain in the loin, radiating to the groin, perineum, and testis or to a woman’s labia.
Symptoms of Urethral stones:
The symptoms depend upon the size of the stone as the large stone is an obstruction, it blocks the flow of urine and results in extreme pain in the kidney and lower abdomen.
- Sharp, cramping pain in the back and side, often moving to the lower abdomen or groin.
- Pain with urination
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- More frequent urination
- Urine that is cloudy or has a strong, foul smell
- Blood in the urine
- Burning sensation during urination
Diagnosis for Urethral stones:
Different types of tests are done to find out whether a person is suffering from ureteric stones
- Ultrasonography
- X-rays
- Excretory urography
- Urinalysis
- Special imaging of your urinary tract (intravenous pyelogram).
Treatment for Urethral Stones
Treatment for Urethral Stones is tailored according to the type of stone and their size. Drinking six to eight glasses of water a day increases urine flow and medicine to ease pain, helps in passing small stones.
Treatment for urethral stones needs surgeries, if the stones are too big to pass away naturally.
a) One of the most common ways to remove stone is Shock-Wave lithotripsy (SWL). This procedure involves breaking of stones with the help of a machine from outside the body. Focused shock waves (short pulses of high energy sound waves) are transmitted to the stone through the skin which helps to break them into smaller pieces. The stone fragments then pass with urine. The advantages of his procedure are low risk of complications and there is no need for anaesthesia.
b) The second way to remove the stones is Ureteroscopy (URS), a type of treatment done with a small-calibre endoscope. URS is common, success rates are very high, and the risk of complications is low.
c) Another way which removes stones directly from the skin is Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PNL). This involves removing medium-sized or larger renal calculi (kidney stones) from the patient’s urinary tract by means of a nephroscope passed into the kidney through a track created in the patient’s back.
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