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Monday, 15 August 2016
What can we do to relieve kidney stone pain?
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In the previous blog we discussed how the severe pain from a kidney stone attack is the body's way of telling us that our kidney is blocked. This causes one to seek help before the kidney suffers any permanent damage, which can happen when a kidney becomes obstructed. 

The obvious and first efforts to manage renal colic comes in the choice and dose of analgesics (pain medication) and antiemetic for the nausea and vomiting part of the illness. Often the patient can be supported with these measures and IV fluids while the stone passes. A group of medications called alpha blockers (Flomax is the best known) can help stones to pass.

If this strategy does not work or if the stone is obviously too large, Middle Tennessee Urology Specialists has a number of minimally invasive procedures such as Ureteroscopy and ESWL (Lithotripsy) to remove these stones. Such a remedy can often be employed within hours of the horrible first symptoms, curing the illness that day. 

Shock wave lithotripsy technology was truly a game changer. Even the doctors were skeptical that a device had been designed to break up stones without any incision or direct scope contact. But now we have over 30 years of success with ESWL and patients usually are home in a few hours after treatment.

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Posted on 08/15/2016 10:42 AM by Kari Slusser