Innomed

Causes of renal calculi

Kidney stone disease (KSD) or urolithiasis is a symptomatic disease caused by metabolic disorders in a human body accompanied by formation of calculi in the urinary tract. The average life-long risk of calculi is 5-10%.

The first and most important factor is insufficient amount of water consumed by an individual (normal daily urine production should be at least 1.5-2 liters)
Long-lasting unchanged meals (a diet should be diverse and consist of proteins, fats and carbohydrates).
Inheritance (if you have close KSD relatives, you are at increased risk of KSD).

Genitourinary infection (very often the infection is asymptomatic and does not cause any unpleasant sensations in humans, manifesting itself only by an elevated white cell count as a result of a general urinalysis).
Endocrine disorders of mineral metabolism.
A sedentary lifestyle.

All of the above are only the main factors and by no means the absolute cause of stone formation. Very often a person who has all these factors does not have stones, and vice versa. What can you do to prevent kidney stones?

Stone Formation Prevention

Calculi in kidneys and renal duct

Main symptoms:

It is present in most patients, yet not in all of them

Dull aching pain in the right or left lumbar region, which is independent of body position; a patient cannot find a right place for relief

Few know that this symptom may be associated with kidneys, therefore completely different diseases are suspected

It may be associated with urination or painful tenesmus, urethrodynia, sometimes radiating in the genital area.

It is a very important symptom which you must report to your doctor

Waiting for spontaneous stone passage is only reasonable for small calculi (smaller than 6 mm); larger concrements can also pass away, but this can take a long time and harm your body. The role of medicamentous treatment is usually overestimated, because, as a rule, if concrement tends to move, it anyway moves with and without medication, and if it gets stuck, there are no medicines that will get it off the trap. Medication is only an adjunctive therapy in this case.

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The treatment is aimed at breaking up and spontaneous passage or removal of calculi from the body through the urinary tract or minor punctures.

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This technique offers only one option - an open surgery.

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The optimum concrement size is smaller than 1 cm. Optimal location is the upper third of the ureter. The concrement is broken by a shockwave generated outside the body and focused on a calculus through the tissue, without punctures or cuts, followed by unforced passage of fragments. The best results are obtained with medium- or low-density concrements smaller than 1 cm in diameter.

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The optimum concrement size is smaller than 2 cm. The concernment’s location doesn't matter. The stones are broken through the body's natural openings. With the right equipment, a surgeon can reach the right place in any part of the urinary system through the urinary tract, lead up a laser fiber and destruct the calculi to dust. The optimal size for this method is smaller than 2 cm.

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The optimum concrement size is more than 2 cm. The optimal location of the concrement is the kidney. The stones are broken through a puncture of the skin and kidney. If the concrement is located in the kidney, then urologist can reach the stone and destruct it through the puncture expanded to a required diameter. The procedure is commonly used with concrements larger than 2 cm.

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Recommendations from the European Urologists Association

for treatment of urolithiasis

Renal colic pain and how to get rid of it

To understand the reasons for deterioration of your condition, you need to know the basic rule – renal calculi do not create an emergency condition by themselves; the main problems arise when calculi block the flow of urine from kidney sinuses and, therefore, launch the inflammatory process.

People are mostly misled by an idea that calculus is something that “scratches” or grows into a kidney. In fact, renal calculus is a site of chronic infection, which may cause unpleasant sensations in the lumbar region. In most cases, calculi lying freely in a renal sinus can be detected by kidney ultrasound or assumed against the elevated leukocyte and red blood cell count of total urinalysis.

A decision on treatment of such calculi is taken individually for each patient based on the size of concrement and clinical picture. Patients may resort to conservative therapy, such as citrate mixtures, unless calculi have blocked a urinary outflow.

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