How to Crush a Stone Litho

“Lithotripsy” is the medical term for crushing a kidney stone in the bladder, kidney or ureter. It comes from “litho,” which is Latin for “stone.” Kidney stones are hard conglomerates of calcium and other minerals that must be crushed--so that the small pieces can pass out of the body through urine--or surgically removed. Symptoms of kidney stones are blood in the urine, sudden pain in the kidney area as the stone moves into the urinary tract, nausea and vomiting. The most common cause of kidney stones is dehydration.

Instructions

• 1

  Schedule an appointment with your doctor if you suspect that you have a kidney stone. Your doctor will use X-rays or ultrasound to determine if you have a stone and where it's located. Be sure to tell your doctor if you're pregnant, have a bleeding disorder, urinary tract infection or kidney cancer. These conditions will rule out lithotripsy as a treatment option. Otherwise, your doctor will schedule you for an outpatient procedure called extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy and give you directions regarding what you can eat and drink and what medications you may take on the day of the procedure.

• 2

  Follow the directions your doctor gave you for the day of your procedure and return to your physician as scheduled. You will be given a mild sedative or pain reliever and an antibiotic. An X-ray or ultrasound will again be used to determine the exact location of the stone.

• 3

  Discuss with your doctor how the stone pieces will be removed. One option is to let the pieces pass naturally through your urine, which can be painful if a large fragment passes through. The other option is to have a tube inserted into the kidney to drain the urine and the stone pieces. This is usually done if the stone is too big to break into pieces tiny enough to pass naturally. If your doctor chooses the tube option, it may be inserted either before or after the lithotripsy procedure.

• 4

  Follow your doctor's direction to lie on your back on a cushion filled with water. A shock wave will be sent through your body. This high-energy wave will hit the kidney stone; you may feel a knocking sensation as the stone is shattered into tiny pieces. This procedure takes 45 minutes to an hour.

• 5

  Empty your bladder. This will either be done using the catheter in the kidneys or it will be left to nature. If left to nature, it generally takes a few days to a few weeks for all the fragments to pass. Either way, your recovery time at the doctor's office will be around two hours.