Almost all patients who visit a urologist or other specialists are aware of kidney stones, because even if they did not suffer from this problem, then one of their relatives or acquaintances. Nephrolithiasis is a fairly common disease, sometimes it is asymptomatic, but it happens with renal colic, which causes severe suffering to the patient. The principles of therapy for a disease in which kidney stones are formed are to remove stones and, if necessary, to relieve pain. The method of removing stones is selected depending on their type and on the condition of the patient.
What factors contribute to the formation of kidney stones
Kidney stones are formed due to a violation of the colloidal balance that occurred due to a failure in mineral metabolism, due to which small particles of fibrin filaments, bacteria, elements of amorphous sediments and foreign bodies begin to group, creating a kind of nucleus for the future calculus . If the concentration of salts in the urine increases and their quantitative ratio changes, if the pH level shifts, the composition of urinary colloids changes, then stone formation progresses, stones increase in size.
The chemical composition of kidney stones varies, and this is important for the correct choice of therapeutic measures. Depending on the predominant type of salts, stones are called urate, oxalate, carbonate, phosphate. In addition, there are kidney stones formed from cystine compounds, from fibrin with an admixture of bacteria, from cholesterol, and even a mixed composition. Calculi differ in color and structure, they are dense and loose, prickly-hard and round-soft.
Stone Shaping in the kidneys can be a hereditary pathology, which is explained by the peculiarities of mineral metabolism. Other causes of nephrolithiasis can be both external (features of a hot climate that dehydrates the body, water and a high content of lime salts, the predominance of a meat and fish diet), and internal:
- increased activity of the parathyroid glands,
- disorders of mineral metabolism in osteoporosis, fractures and injuries, osteomyelitis,
- infectious diseases of the urinary tract,
- gastritis, colitis, ulcers, other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Any disease, including those requiring a prolonged sedentary state of the patient, which contributes to a slow outflow of urine. Promotes its stagnation, glut & nbsp; and salt precipitation.
What are the symptoms of kidney stone formation
The symptoms of nephrolithiasis depend on the composition of the kidney stones, their size and the number of stones formed. One of the most severe manifestations of the disease – renal colic, which causes a sudden sharp pain in the patient in the lumbar region, which is often impossible to endure without taking strong painkillers, including narcotic ones. The pain radiates to the perineum, to the genitals, may be accompanied by vomiting, frequent urge to urinate. Renal colic often ends with the passage of a calculus with & nbsp; urine, and there are injuries of the mucous membranes of the urinary tract with sharp corners of the outgoing stones.
The presence of kidney stones can be manifested by bloody impurities in the urine, and in the presence of an infectious process – excretion of pus in the urine. In some patients, kidney stones do not cause any symptoms at all, there are no inflammatory processes or morphological changes.
Treatment recommended for kidney stones
Therapy for nephrolithiasis is in any case aimed at removing kidney stones, but the methods can be both conservative and surgical. With small stones, a diet and drinking regime determined by the doctor, taking drugs that help dissolve stones is recommended. With the development of renal colic, first of all, you need to relieve pain – for this, injections of painkillers are used, if they are ineffective – novocaine blockade. If such colic is repeated frequently, surgical intervention is performed, which is also recommended for especially large calculi, with secondary pyelonephritis.
The prognosis for nephrolithiasis is usually favorable. The patient should know that avoiding the recurrence of kidney stones is possible only with lifelong diet and drinking regimen, moderate physical activity.
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