Stones can occur anywhere in the urinary tract, but they most commonly form in the kidneys. Kidney stones are common with 1 in 11 people having a stone at some point in their lives. Furthermore, half of people who have one stone develop another one over the next 10 years.
Stones form in the kidney and tend not to cause problems until they move and get stuck in the ureter (the thin tube between the kidney to the bladder). This usually causes severe pain called “renal colic” and patients often have to attend A+E because of the pain. However stones do not always cause pain; they may be picked up incidentally when patients have scans or they can sometimes cause problems such as blood in the urine or kidney infections.
Kidney and ureteric stones are usually diagnosed by performing a CT scan but other scans such as x-rays and ultrasound may also be used.
Many stones are small enough to pass out without any treatment, therefore we often monitor stones that are smaller than 5mm. If the stones grow or start to cause symptoms they can be treated.
Larger stones, or stones causing problems such as pain or urinary infection need treatment. This is usually with either with shock wave treatment (Lithotripsy/ESWL) or surgery (ureteroscopy/PCNL). After doing a scan to diagnose your stones Mr Brewin will discuss the treatment options with you.
As part of your assessment we will also discuss how to prevent future stones.
More detailed information on stones and the procedures to treat stones can be found on the BAUS patient information pages.