Kidney stones - laser lithotripsy?

Had two stones in the same kidney. I didn't know I had them until I fell over a tree root and landed on tummy and dislodged one of them. They operated from below and removed as was lodged in the tube and it made me very ill indeed. They were due to litho the second one when I passed it naturally (not one of my better weekends). So why am I telling you this? I would say, if the hospital do advise it. I would try to do something about them before they cause pain. Anyone who has experienced it will tell you, it's not funny. I'm surprised you haven't had any symptoms or problems so far too. Thankfully. Not sure how they discovered them? Presumably you were having a scan for something else. If you do have litho, I understand from what they told me when they were planning it, you can have a bit of discomfort afterwards, whilst you're passing the grit and you are asked to sieve it, so they can see what kind of stones they were (uric acid, struvite, calcium) then send you for a Lithoscreen report. Involves urine testing and diet sheets to see what may be causing you to form them. Mine ended up as probable cause chemotherapy. They can figure out what has caused them to try to prevent it happening in the future. Hope another Gran can explain the actual procedure for you.

Def have the procedure if it's offered to you. Like breeze I passed a kidney stone and it was definitely not one of my better experiences. I would rather go through childbirth than that. I still have 2 very small stones, 1 in either kidney, but they are too small to treat by lithotripsy. I'm just being monitored every 6 months. I'll def have the procedure if it gets to that stage. My consultant said it was a day case procedure without a GA. Different consultants/hospitals I presume.

Thank you for your replies, breeze and Ktaek. Yes, I will definitely go for the lithotripsy, if it's offered. I did pass some gravel - I think - about 40 years ago, when I was pregnant, and I clearly remember the pain just with that! However, it wasn't really investigated at the time.

The first stone was picked up when I was scanned for gallstones about eight years ago. That was a fun time, too, as my bile duct and gallbladder became infected due to the stones passing through. Maybe I'm susceptible to stones? I was interested to read that they find out what is causing them, breeze. I didn't realise that.

Thanks for your help.

They do need to biopsy a stone first though G. To find out what kind it is. If it gets as far as the litho report, you have to keep a food diary for a week, including fluids, and every single tiddle for, if I remember correctly, 2 days, has to be poured into two huge containers then taken to hospital with the diary. Then will analyse the urine content to see if it's acidic or whatever, and then advise you on the best diet for you so you can minimise the risk of forming them. At the moment though, it seems new hospital will take over and advise you from there about best way of removing them. Good luck. I hope you get the problem sorted without too much discomfort. I would add, I am guessing hospitals do vary. Mine dealt with my problem excellently. Apart from some awful nursing care (diabolical) the consultants and dietary advice was second to none.

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