Concretions in the kidney: their varieties, ways of diagnosing and carrying out the treatment
Concretions in the kidneys appear due to violations of filtration processes in the body and metabolic disorders in the body. In a normal state in a healthy person, all pathogenic chemical compounds are excreted from the body together with urine. But if the kidneys are disturbed, they remain and are deposited in cups and pelvis in the form of small crystals. Already as they grow larger, they become like a stone.
Depending on the chemical composition of stones, they are classified into urate, oxalate and phosphate types.
Uranium stones are formed by the salts of uric acid and have a yellow or red hue, a flat surface and a fairly dense consistency. Urates are formed in the kidneys with increasing acidity of urine.
Oxalate stones are formed from oxalic acid salts. They also have a dense consistency, their surface is rough, and the shade is gray-black. Oxalates can form with both alkaline and acidic urine.
Phosphate stones contain phosphoric acid salts, which are characterized by a soft consistency, a smooth surface and a light gray shade. Such stones are easily crumbled, rapidly expand and form with an alkaline reaction in the urine, so often accompany pyelonephritis.
Despite the seriousness of the disease, the concretions of both kidneys respond well to treatment, and physicians develop special prevention of relapse for their patients.
Why is the formation of stones
The causes of the appearance of kidney stones are not fully understood. The main risk factors for the development of the disease include:
- metabolic disorders in the body;
- problems associated with urinary incontinence due to various inflammations;
- infectious lesions of the kidneys and urinary canals.
The indirect cause of the appearance of stones is the way of life of a person, namely: diet, harmful addictions, weather conditions, the chemical composition of drinking water in the place of residence. In places where water is hard, cases of urolithiasis are much more frequent.
The calculus of the left kidney or right kidney is able to form with increasing or even normal concentration in the urine of calcium, oxalic acid and its compounds, uric acid. These substances contribute to the appearance of crystals that are fixed in the structure of the organ and eventually increase in size.
This is important! In typical situations, the stone begins to move along the urinary canals and is excreted along with the urine. But the concrement can get stuck on the way and cause severe pain. Large stones can not be withdrawn spontaneously, so surgery is required to remove them from the body.
How the pathology is characterized, its symptoms
The main signs of urolithiasis include:
- blood in the urine;
- renal colic,
- pain in the lumbar region;
- movement of stones together with urine.
Blunt aching pain in the lumbar zone is due to a violation of urinary retention. When the concrement gets stuck in the ureter or in the pelvis, renal colic manifests itself, for which there is a sharp, unbearable pain in the waist and in the direction of the ureter. At times, renal colic is accompanied by a strong increase in body temperature, anxiety movements, nausea with vomiting and flatulence.
Against the background of pain, there is no urine or a decrease in the daily volume of urine. Sometimes the pain becomes so strong that it is eliminated only through narcotic pain medications. After the end of an attack of colic, sand or small concretions in the kidney may leave the body along with the urine.
It is necessary to distinguish renal colic from diseases that cause acute pain. The concrement of the right kidney is capable of provoking a symptomatology similar to the signs of an acute form of cholecystitis, appendicitis. Concrements on the left side can be confused with a myocardial infarction or complications of a stomach ulcer.
Conducting diagnostic measures
Detection of the presence of calculi in the kidneys is based on the patient's medical history, typical symptoms and on the organization of instrumental and laboratory methods. In the process of visual examination and palpation, pain is diagnosed in the location of the kidneys and ureters.
The laboratory methods of research include the following:
- general blood and urine tests;
- biochemical analyzes of blood and urine;
- taking urinary samples.
The instrumental methods of the study include the following:
- Ultrasound examination for the kidneys, for the bladder and other organs located in the abdominal cavity in order to eliminate similar pathologies similar in clinical manifestations.
- X-ray examination is the main method of diagnosis - it includes: excretory and review urography, pyelography. Thanks to them, the doctor can locate the location, size, form of the calculus, as well as changes in the structure of the kidneys.
- In complex situations, a CT scan or MRI of the kidney is performed.
Carrying out the appropriate treatment for calculi in the kidneys
The healing process involves the removal of stones. Treatment alone can be conservative or operative. If the stones are small, then the treatment of calculi in the kidneys involves increasing the water load and adherence to a special diet. The diet will depend on the composition and structure of the stones.
In medicine, there are special preparations that help dissolve stones of different compositions. Depending on the signs of the disease and its complications, the patient may be prescribed antibiotic drugs, antispasmodics and other drugs.
This is important! With the development of renal colic, the use of potent analgesics is required, often in such a situation a novocaine blockade of the nerve plexuses is carried out.
The calculus can be removed by an endoscopic method using a catheter. Sometimes large concrements are removed during the surgical operation, the operative access of which will depend on the side of the lesion and the level of the location of the stone.
Treatment of the concrement of the right kidney is often realized by the method of remote lithotripsy, when the new formation becomes irritated by small particles and is eliminated from the body spontaneously.
Organization of preventive measures
When diagnosing a man with urolithiasis, he first of all needs to pass urine and blood tests in order to find possible health problems that provoked the pathology.
If a stone that has been removed is found to require identification of their type, and based on the results of this study, the doctor gives the patient specific recommendations regarding the following:
- Drug use to reduce the risk of recurrence of stone formation.
- It is recommended to consume a large amount of fluid to increase the volume of urine processed by the kidneys and reduce the concentration of substances that affect the formation of stones.
- After determining the type of stones, the doctor recommends changing the diet.