How to Remove Bladder Stones

Bladder stones form when mineral deposits collect in your urinary tract. They usually end up in the bladder. They can start as small as grains of sand and grow into the size of a small pebble.
Stones are harmful because they can block the passage of urine and cause pain, infection and bleeding. In the case of the bladder, stones are usually made of calcium salts.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, 90 percent of stones can pass through the urinary tract without a problem, but for the other 10 percent, the following methods are used to remove bladder stones.

Things You'll Need

• Local or general anesthetic Lubricant Cytoscope Saline solution Biopsy needle Catheter X-ray and ultrasound machine Tub or cushion Water

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Instructions

Cytoscopic Removal

• 1

  Tell your doctor whether you are taking aspirin, ibuprofen or any other medications.

• 2

  If your doctor is going to administer a regional or general anesthetic, do not eat anything for four hours before the procedure.

• 3

  The doctor will administer the appropriate anesthetic and lubricate the urethra.

• 4

  The doctor will pass a cytoscope (sometimes attached with a camera) into your urethra to your bladder and can administer a saline solution to view the bladder walls more clearly.

• 5

  Allow your doctor to insert any other instruments through the cytoscope to get a biopsy sample, remove the bladder stones, take pictures of the bladder wall, or apply a small electrical charge to reduce bleeding.

• 6

  The doctor will drain the bladder of the saline solution and remove the cytoscope. Sometimes the doctor may leave in a catheter while you recover.

Lithotripsy Shock Wave Removal-2 methods

• 7

  The doctor will administer anesthesia as needed and use one of the following methods to crush the stones.

• 8

  Method 1: Sit in a tub of tepid water. You will be positioned so that X-ray or ultrasound devices are aimed precisely at the stones. Shock waves will pass through the body to crush the stones to smaller pieces. The pieces will then be passed through the urine.

• 9

  Method 2: Lie on top of a cushion. The doctor will administer 1,000 to 2,000 shock waves to your body with the cushion in between. This procedure takes 45 minutes to one hour. The crushed stone particles will pass, ideally, through the urethra.

Surgical Removal

• 10

  The doctor will administer general anesthesia.

• 11

  The doctor will make an incision in the patient's lower back of abdomen.

• 12

  The doctor will remove the stone.