Understanding Kidney Stones: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

What is it?

Kidney stones are small stones, usually made from calcium, in one or both of your kidneys.
Normally kidney stones flush out when you pee, but in some cases, especially if they are big, they can get stuck and cause pain and bloody urine.
The stones develop due to the accumulation of crystals in the kidneys. Certain medications or diseases can increase the concentration of crystals in the urine and make you more susceptible to kidney stones.
If left untreated, they can cause an infection to develop and even damage your kidney’s function.

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Additional names

This group contains additional names:
- Nephrolithiasis
- Bladder Diverticulum Calculus
- Urethral Calculus
- Bladder Calculus
- Oxalate bladder stone
- Phosphate bladder stone
- Uric acid bladder stone
- Urinary bladder stone
- Bladder stones

Signs & symptoms

Small stones will usually not cause any symptoms
Larger, or stuck, stones can cause tremendous pain that starts in your upper pack or sides and can travel down as the stone passes through the urinary "pipes".
In additions, it can cause nausea, vomiting, and blood in the urine.
If the stones caused a urinary tract infection, you may develop fever and chills.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will perform a physical exam and ask about your symptoms and risk factors. In order to complete the diagnosis, he or she will order an imaging test such as Ultrasound or CT scan to visual your kidneys and urinary tract and look for the stones.

Treatment

If the stones are small, they are likely to get out in the urine on their own. You will be given medication to control the pain and come back for check-up in a few weeks.
If the stones are large, they are less likely to pass through the urine. Treatment may include one of the following:
- Surgery to remove the stones
- Break the large stones to little pieces so they wash out freely, using sound waves.
- Insert a tube in the same tract your urine gets out, in order to break down and pull out the stones. This is called ureteroscopy.
In order to avoid getting kidney stones again, make sure you drink plenty of water every day, and check with your doctor if there are any medication that needs to be replaced.

☝️ This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision.

Learn more about our editorial process for content accuracy.

Source of Information - We analyze big data of more than 23 million patients de-identified medical records from the following sources:

National Institution of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ University of Illinois hospital