Kidney stones

Introduction: Kidney stones

Kidney stones: A kidney stone is a solid piece of material that forms in the kidney out of substances in the urine.

A stone may stay in the kidney or ... more about Kidney stones.

Kidney stones: Stone-like calcium deposits in the kidney. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Kidney stones is available below.

Symptoms of Kidney stones

• No early symptoms - early stages have no symptoms
• Severe abdominal pain
• Kidney pain - sharp pain usually on the back and at the side
  • Severe back pain
  • Side pain

See full list of 18 symptoms of Kidney stones

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Kidney stones:

• Bladder & Urinary Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Bladder Tests
  • Home Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Tests
  • Home Cystitis Tests
  • Home Kidney Tests
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney Function)
  • Home Prostate Cancer Tests
• Prostate Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Prostate Tests
  • Home PSA Antigen Tests
  • Home Testosterone Tests
• Kidney Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Microalbumin Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Kidney stones

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Kidney stones

• X-rays
• Sonogram
• IVP (intravenous pyelogram)
• Analysis of a passed stone
• 24 hour urine test

Read more about tests for Kidney stones

Wrongly Diagnosed with Kidney stones?

• Misdiagnosis of Kidney stones
• Underlying causes of Kidney stones (possibly wrongly diagnosed)

Misdiagnosis and Kidney stones

Interstitial cystitis an under-diagnosed bladder condition: The medical condition of interstitial cystitic is a bladder condition that can be misdiagnosed as various conditions such as overactive bladder or other causes of pelvic pain. This condition can cause chronic pelvic pain or symptoms of urinary incontinence, similar to overactive bladder. Millions of patients may be misdiagnosed - an estimated third of the 9 million women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) or 4.5 million of the 17 million women with overactive bladder syndrome do not respond well to treatment, and may have interstitial cystitis rather than their given diagnosis. In other words, about 6 million US women may have misdiagnosed interstitial cystitis. See interstitial cystitis or overactive bladder, or incontinence....read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Kidney stones

Causes of Kidney stones

• Urinary tract infections
• Cystic kidney diseases
• Metabolic disorders
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Renal tubular acidosis - rare hereditary disease

See full list of 14 causes of Kidney stones

More information about causes of Kidney stones:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Kidney stones (67 listings)
• Drug interactions causing Kidney stones (3 listings)
• Underlying causes of Kidney stones
• Kidney stones as a complication caused by other conditions
• Kidney stones as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Kidney stones

Treatments for Kidney stones

• No treatment - in mild cases; some kidney stones pass naturally in urine
• Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL)
• Surgery
  • Percutaneous nephrolithotomy
  • Ureteroscopic Stone Removal

See full list of 7 treatments for Kidney stones

Videos for Kidney stones

Patient Surveys for Kidney stones

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Prognosis for Kidney stones

Prognosis for Kidney stones: Most kidney stones pass out of the body without any intervention by a physician. Cases that cause lasting symptoms or other complications may be treated by various techniques, most of which do not involve major surgery. (Source: excerpt from Kidney Stones: NWHIC)

More about prognosis of Kidney stones

Reseach about Kidney stones

Visit our research pages for current research about Kidney stones treatments.

Prevention of Kidney stones

Prevention information for Kidney stones has been compiled from various data sources and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Kidney stones.

• Water
• High-calcium diet - surprisingly this reportedly works better than a low-calcium diet
• Avoid certain antacids
• Avoid vitamin D
• Low-oxalate diet

Read more about prevention of Kidney stones

Statistics for Kidney stones

• Medical statistics for Kidney stones
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Kidney stones
• Death and Mortality statistics for Kidney stones
• Society statistics for Kidney stones

Types of Kidney stones

• Calcium stone - most common type
• Struvite - infection stone
• Uric acid stone
• Cystine stone
• Ureteral stone

See full list of 6 Types of Kidney stones

Medical Guidebooks and Ebooks for Kidney stones

• Icon Health Sourcebook for Kidney stones

See all guides and ebooks for Kidney stones

Stories from Users Related to Kidney stones

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Kidney stones, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

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• What is the best treatment for this?
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Article Excerpts about Kidney stones

What Are Kidney Stones: NIDDK (Excerpt)

A kidney stone is a solid piece of material that forms in the kidney out of substances in the urine.

A stone may stay in the kidney or break loose and travel down the urinary tract. A small stone may pass all of the way out of the body without causing too much pain.

A larger stone may get stuck in a ureter, the bladder, or the urethra. A problem stone can block the flow of urine and cause great pain. (Source: excerpt from What Are Kidney Stones: NIDDK)

Your Urinary System and How It Works: NIDDK (Excerpt)

Kidney stones is the term commonly used to refer to stones, or calculi, in the urinary system. Stones form in the kidneys and may be found anywhere in the urinary system. They vary in size. Some stones cause great pain while others cause very little. The aim of treatment is to remove the stones, prevent infection, and prevent recurrence. Both nonsurgical and surgical treatments are used. Kidney stones affect men more often than women. (Source: excerpt from Your Urinary System and How It Works: NIDDK)

Definitions of Kidney stones:

Calculi occurring in the kidney. Calculi too large to pass spontaneously range in size from 1 cm to the staghorn stones that occupy the renal pelvis and calyces. - (Source - Diseases Database)

The presence of kidney stones (calculi) in the kidney - (Source - WordNet 2.1)