Lithotripsy is a non-invasive method to treat kidney stone problem in individuals. Kidney stones are hard objects composed of millions of tiny crystals. They cause a lot of pain in the abdominal area. There are also other trouble-causing symptoms of kidney stones.
Kidney stones mostly occur on the interior surface of the kidney. These stones are very small, like a pebble or grain of sand, that can be easily passed during urination. But, some stones are often much larger in size and create obstruction in the part of the kidney where they exist.
Many functionalities of kidney get hampered due to the obstruction and damage caused by kidney stones. Your kidneys maintain the level of water, salts and minerals by filtering your blood. Urine is the product of this filtration process. Under certain circumstances, various substances like calcium, phosphate, etc. dissolve in urine. Excess of these minerals can concentrate and form crystals. A kidney stone is composed when these crystals gets attached to each other, accumulating into small masses, or stone.
When kidney stones are too large, they cannot be passed through the urinary tract. Lithotripsy is known to be an effectual method to treat kidney stone problem. Patients can avoid an invasive surgery procedure by opting for Lithotripsy.
Lithotripsy is a treatment procedure for kidney stones where there is no piercing of skin involved. Here, kidney stones are treated by sending focused ultrasonic energy or shock waves directly where the stone is located. This step can be carried out using a fluoroscopy (type of X-ray) or ultrasound. Fluoroscopy or ultrasound helps the doctor to aim the waves. Shock waves are responsible to break larger stones into smaller bits so that they can pass while urinating.
A lithotripsy procedure is known to be safer and more effective. Your doctor will give you a list of guidelines to be followed before and after the treatment. In case if you have any queries, discuss them with your doctor.