Lithiasis (stone, stone)
When we refer to urinary lithiasis, we are talking about a disease that is caused by the presence of calculi (stones) that are located in the interior of the kidneys or urinary tract (ureters, or bladder). In general, the urinary lithiasis is formed in our inner when the urine is concentrated, allowing minerals to crystallize and join in.
Causes
The current information with the Doctors Urologists currently have on the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for the formation of the stones, together with the medical history of each patient, allows them to choose the best treatment for the resolution of the lithiasis and urinary tract, as well as for the future prevention of the same.
Factors that favors the formation of stones:
- Intake of some liquid, which generates little desire to urinate (pee).
- A family history of kidney stones.
- History of previous personal (if you already had one or more kidney stones, there is a greater risk of having to re-train them, if you do not make a right treatment).
- Eating a diet rich in protein, sodium (salt) and sugar.
Symptoms
May go unnoticed or cause:
- Renal colic: very severe Pain in the lower back that may radiate to the abdomen or to the genitals.
That may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sweating. - Hematuria: it Is the appearance of blood in the urine. You can be visible to the naked eye or not. It is produced by the lesions produced by the calculation in its passage through the urinary tract.
- Infections of the urinary tract: kidney stones may be the cause or the consequence of frequent urinary tract infections.
Prevention
To prevent the formation of urinary stones is recommended to increase the intake of fluids (preferably water), bring a low-salt diet, limiting the intake of meat, sugar and alcohol.
It is of importance to study the characteristics of the urine and perform a blood test to modify possible alterations that are generating the formation of urinary stones.
Diagnosis
- Analysis of the urine: to search for the presence of blood or pus, or small crystals that form the calculation.
- Analysis of the calculations expelled or recovered in the surgery: in order to know the composition of the same, and to determine its origin. This will allow you to make the appropriate treatment to prevent the formation of most urinary stones.
- Images: You usually apply x-ray of abdomen, abdominal ultrasound and ct scan, among other studies.
Treatment
- Medication: Usuallydepending on the size, and other considerations of urolithiasis, is commonly prescribed medication as a first step, in order that the patient can expel urolithiasis.
- Extracorporeal shock wave: it is an outpatient treatment for 45 min approx. that consists of fragmenting the calculations and that these, then, are eliminated in the form of grit through the urine.
- Procedures endourológicos: Surgery is minimally invasive for the extraction of the calculi.
