Dr Varinder Attri – Urologist, Andrologist and Laparoscopic surgeon

Kidney stones are most common condition with which the patient present to the urologist. Renal stones are common worldwide. With India being one of the largest populated country, there are vast number of patients who present with renal stone disease to their doctors.8 tips to prevent recurrent kidney stone formation

About 15-20% of men and 10-15% of women have renal stone disease. These stone can be asymptomtic or the patient can present with colicky pain in the flank, nausea, vomiting or recurrent UTI. Know about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of kidney stones/calculi

Renal stones are easily diagnosed by imaging of the kidneys using ultrasound.

There are various techniques to remove kidney stones.

• ESWL can be used for small, asymptomatic and soft stones. It involves the external rays to break the stone. There can be incomplete removal of stones from kidney after its breakage.
• PCNL or mini PCNL is done for large volume of kidney stones. In this operation, a keyhole is made, through which kidney stones are fragmented and removed. This surgery can be associated with bleeding in the urine which can occur after many months.
• RIRS (Retrograde intra Renal surgery) is the safest and latest technique of kidney stones removal. This technique is minimal invasive technique which is completely stitchless, painless and no to minimal risk of bleeding. This surgery involves using a flexible instrument called uretero-renoscope, which passes into all nooks and corners of kidney and stones are reduced to dust or broken into small pieces using laser. This dust particles are washed out subsequently and small stone fragments are removed by basket. RIRS scope passes from natural urethral orifice; hence involves no need for any cut or incision. This leads to complete clearance of stone.

Here is a small video clip showing RIRS where stone is fragmented into pieces and removed out using basket, leading to complete clearance of stone.

WHEN TO CHOOSE RIRS

• Patient with low volume kidney stone
• Patient on antiplatelets or anti coagulants
• Recurrent kidney stone former
• Ectopic or anomalous kidney
• Patient preference
• Patient with solitary kidney with renal stone

Whom to consult for kidney stones

You can consult your nearby urologist for kidney stone treatment.About Dr Varinder Attri