Nephrolithiasis is better known as kidney stones or renal calculi. Kidney stones can occur for various reasons, creating a solid mass of small crystals in your kidneys. The stones pass from your kidneys to your ureters, causing extreme pain in your lower back or side, and from your abdomen to your groin, as the stone passes through your urinary tract. One type of kidney stone is caused by an infection in your urinary tract.
Causes
Usually, several different factors lead to the development of kidney stones, causing your urine to become unbalanced in its components of fluids, minerals and acids, notes MayoClinic.com. The different types of kidney stones include calcium, uric acid and cysteine stones. Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, can cause another type of kidney stones, called struvite stones. Women are most likely to develop struvite stones from an infection, while calcium and uric acid stones are more common in men than in women.
Significance
Approximately 80 percent of kidney stones are calcium stones, made from calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Calcium stones typically form when you have very high oxalate levels, usually from eating foods that contain high oxalate levels, from your liver producing too much oxalate or from taking large amounts of vitamin D supplements. Struvite stones are the next most common type, accounting for 10 to 15 percent of kidney stones; these stones are composed of magnesium ammonium phosphate. Only 5 to 10 percent of kidney stones are made of uric acid, and less than 1 percent are made from cystine. Uric acid stones typically occur due to dehydration, consuming a high-protein diet or gout, while cystine stones form if you have the genetic disorder called cystinuria, notes MayoClinic.com.
Effects
Struvite stones due to an infection can become very large. Unlike other types of kidney stones, these stones can grow quickly and may block your ureter, kidneys or bladder, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. In addition to the intense pain accompanied by these stones, you may also experience symptoms like blood in your urine, abnormal urine color, fever, chills, nausea and vomiting. In some cases, struvite stones can even damage your kidneys, says the University of Michigan Health System.
Treatments
Your doctor will perform certain tests to determine what kind of kidney stone you have in order to treat it properly. If you've already passed a stone, your doctor will analyze the stone to find out what chemicals are contained in it. If the stone is a struvite stone due to an infection, it will contain magnesium ammonium phosphate and UTI-causing bacteria, says the University of Michigan Health System. If you haven't yet passed the stone, your physician can perform other tests like a urinalysis to determine whether you have a struvite stone. Common treatments for struvite stones include taking pain-relieving medications, drinking at least 6 to 8 glasses of water per day, or receiving intravenous fluids and taking antibiotics. You may need to undergo surgery if the struvite stone is too large to pass through your urinary tract, if the stone continues to grow despite the antibiotics or if the stone is blocking your urine flow. UTIs can also occur as complications of other types of kidney stones.
