Bladder Stones Treatment

The term "bladder stone" is different from kidney or gallbladder stones. And while both of these stones can be small masses of minerals too (and kidney stones can become bladder stones later), each originates in their specific area of the body first, and each are formed in different ways and often for different reasons, according to the Mayo Clinic. Sometimes they do move down into the bladder, but only for excretion purposes. Treatment for each type of stone, including bladder stones, can consist of one or more options: surgery, cystolitholapaxy, or just drinking lots of water.

Bladder Stone Formation Causes

• As liquid waste is removed by your kidneys and sent down to your bladder for excrement, it can cause bladder stones if that waste (known as urine) is left to sit in the bladder for lengthy periods of time or does not completely empty from the bladder. Other causes can include inflammation, medical device uses that interfere with urine removal, and even kidney stones traveling through the bladder.

Treatment Options Influenced by Stone Formation Cause

• Some conditions exist that cause bladder stones formation due to the bladder not emptying completely on its own: prostate gland enlargement, bladder diverticula (bulging pouches within the bladder), and neurogenic bladder (damaged bladder nerves that don't signal complete release of urine).

Treatment Options Explored

• The least expensive and most convenient option is increasing the intake of water. This is generally the first treatment option pursued, unless the stone size is large. Other than water, another liquid that is recommended is cranberry juice. Larger stones, or stones that cannot be removed through this first process of liquid intake, can be removed by a procedure known as cystolitholapaxy or by surgery.

Cystolitholapaxy Treatment Option

• A small flexible tube with a camera at the end of it (a cytoscope) is used for this procedure and you are generally under anesthesia. The cystolitholapaxy treatment is used to break up stones that won't pass out of the body for some reason, or are too large. The procedure consists of the doctor inserting the cytoscope into the urethra, enroute into the bladder. This affords him a view of the stone and its actual size, as he then uses a laser, medical device, or ultrasound to break the stone size down into small pieces in order that they can be flushed out of the bladder.

  Antibiotics are generally prescribed prior to this procedure to help eliminate potential for infection. However, fever, urinary infection, bladder tears, and bleeding are a possible risk with cystolitholapaxy.

Surgery

• When stones cannot be broken down successfully through cystolitholapaxy due to size or resistance, surgery is undertaken. An incision is made into the bladder directly by the surgeon, and the stone is removed that way. If an enlarged prostate is the cause of the large stone, or other internal problem that can be corrected surgically, that is usually taken care of as well at this time.