A Closer Look at Urinary Stones Treatment

Learning how to treat urinary stones is important for those with bladder stones not just for their health, but also to properly assess and understand their condition. It is critical to learn what these stones are to prevent them from returning together with learning how to treat urinary stones.

Bladder stones. or urinary stones, are solid calculi (stones) that are usually found in the urinary bladder. Urinary stones are the result of the concentration of urine crystals in your bladder. This ultimately causes a series of health problems.

How to Treat Urinary Stones

Generally, treatment is classified on the type of action for their removal. This can involve either just behavioral changes or surgery. 

You may opt to undergo behavioral changes by yourself, with or without the direct assistance of a medical professional. What’s important is that you have proper advice from a doctor. Increasing your fluid intake by a prescribed amount is the most prevalent lifestyle change you can make.

Surgery is also an option, especially when the urinary bladder stones are large in size. There are three main options based on the information your doctor has gathered from your physical examination and medical history. 

Transurethral Cystolitholapaxy

A transurethral cystolitholapaxy is one of the most common procedures on how to treat urinary stones. In this procedure, the surgeon inserts a small-sized tube with a lens or camera into the urethral opening, and directs it all the way to your bladder to locate the bladder stones.

Once the bladder stones have been identified, your surgeon may use either a crushing device, ultrasound wave transmissions or lasers to break up the stones into smaller pieces. These pieces can then pass through the body with the help of fluid intake. 

Your doctor will carry out this procedure with the assistance of a general or local anaesthetic. As a precautionary measure, antibiotics may be given. This will lessen the risk of developing an infection during the procedure.

Open Cystostomy 

An open cystostomy aids male patients who have enlarged prostates. The procedure is also useful in cases wherein the stone is very large. 

With an open cystostomy, a surgeon makes a large cut into the abdomen and urinary bladder. Afterwards, the doctor will extract the bladder stone. Other combinations of surgery will also be performed as needed. One example is the removal of a part or sum of the bladder diverticula.

In comparison to other surgical procedures, open cystostomy may be more painful for you in the long run. As such, doctors will consider this as an option when it is the only way to extract a large bladder stone. 

Undergoing such a procedure may prove difficult due to the pain you may experience. An open cystostomy also requires you to use a catheter (a flexible tube used to collect your urine and empty your bladder) for a few days or more.

Percutaneous Suprapubic Cystolitholapaxy 

Doctors perform this surgical procedure primarily on children so as not to put the urethra at risk. Doctors may also perform it on adults who have somewhat large bladder stones. Similar to an open cystostomy, in this procedure, a surgeon makes a small incision or cut in the lower abdomen, and another incision to the urinary bladder in order to remove the stones, with the assistance of a general anaesthetic.

With the above mentioned surgical procedures as forms of treatment, there are always risks. The most prevalent complication of a surgery involving your bladder stones is the infection of the urethra, otherwise known as a UTI, and the infection of your bladder.

In conclusion, immediate medical attention and the assurance of skilled medical professionals shall remove your worries when considering surgery for bladder stones. The most effective solution on how to treat urinary stones lies in what you can do to make behavioral changes to keep your bladder healthy.

Learn more about bladder disease here.