Laser Kidney Stone Removal

What To Expect When Your Doctor Orders Laser Kidney Stone Removal To Remove Your Kidney Stones.

Kidney stones are an extremely painful condition often considered more painful than a woman giving birth. The kidney stones are caused by calcium deposits that the body doesn't process. They lodge most often in the patients ureter and are extremely painful. Many doctors are now ordering laser kidney stone removal in order to prevent as much of the pain as possible and help their patients recover more quickly. Laser kidney stone removal is done under a general anesthesia as a day surgery in either a surgical center or a local area hospital. The doctor uses a tool called a uterscop. A uterscop is a small fiber optic straw type surgical utensil. The doctor will place the patient under general anesthesia and carefully insert the uterscop into the patients urethra.

Similar to inserting a catheter. The uterscop is gently inserted all the way through the urethra into the patients ureter. The ureter is usually where the kidney stone is located. After the uterscop reaches the kidney stone, a Laser beam (shock waves with high voltage discharges) is activated and it is pointed directly at the kidney stone to break it up into as many fragments as possible. Sometimes the fragments turn to a powder like dust, other times, these fragments may still be jagged and cause pain when leaving the patients body. There will be some bleeding in the patients urine for several days to several weeks as their body recovers. Most patients can walk out of the surgical area and walk to the car with ease.

The doctor will require the patient to urinate into a strainer type device for several days to see if any more fragments pass. Laser kidney stone removal has many benefits over the other methods of kidney stone removal. It is less invasive and less painful for the patient. Doctors today are finding that most patients recover much more quickly with laser kidney stone removal. laser kidney stone removal is most frequently used on people that have recurring kidney stones as well as people that have specific health conditions such as asthma, high blood pressure, cardiopulmonary problems and even diabetes.