In most cases, the treatments for passing kidney stones center on pain control and flushing the stone out of the body. Data published by the National Kidney Foundation, or NKF, in 2007 indicate that 5 percent of Americans experience a kidney stone at some point in life. The NKF also reports that over 500,000 people seek treatment in local emergency rooms every year because of kidney stones.
Lots of Water
The MayoClinic.org recommends people with kidney stones drink 2 to 3 liters of water per day to flush the kidney stone through the urinary tract. The urine should be strained each time a person with a kidney stone voids to see if the stone has been passed. The stone can be taken to the doctor and sent to the lab for analysis to determine the composition of the stone. An inability to pass urine indicates a need to seek medical care. If the stone has blocked a ureter, the tube that drains urine from the kidney to the bladder, or the urethra, the pain will worsen and patients require medical intervention to remove the stone.
Pain Control
Pain results when a kidney stone travels through the ureter or the urethra. Described as spastic-like, the severe pain causes nausea, vomiting, sweating and sometimes low blood pressure with feelings of faintness. Mild to moderate pain may be treated with over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. However, more severe pain requires the addition of prescription narcotics to manage pain symptoms.
Lithotripsy
If a kidney stone lodges in a ureter or the urethra, the stone will need to be removed. Physicians may try extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. This intervention uses high-frequency sound as energy pulses directed through the body to the stone. The energy pulverizes the stone into small pieces, which then can be flushed from the body. Patients receive sedation because the energy pulses do cause pain. Cardiac and vital sign monitoring takes place because extracorporeal shock wave therapy can trigger irregular heart rhythms in some patients.
Surgery
When lithotripsy fails or a patient is not a candidate for such therapy, surgical treatments may be tried. The MayoClinic.org explains that ureteroscopy involves inserting a scope--a lighted tube with camera--through the urethra and bladder to the ureter where the stone has lodged. Instruments inserted through the scope fragment the stone. The pieces may be removed at this time or expelled through the bladder and urethra independently. Rarely, an actual surgical incision is performed when very large stones exist or scar tissue from previous stones prevents the passage of a ureteroscope or stone fragments.
