Kidney Stone Removal Surgery example essay topic

Kidney Stones The medical term for kidney stones is Nephrolithiasis or Renal Calculi. A kidney stone is a solid lump that can be as small as a grain of sand and as large as a golf ball made up of crystals that separate from urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney. A kidney stone that does not pass on out can block the urinary tract. This blockage will probably cause a lot of pain. If medical attention is not received to identify the cause of the pain and remove the blockage, the pain is likely to go away over a few days. This usually will cause the sufferer to think that the problem is over with but it actually has not.

The problem that had actually happened was that the kidney that had been blocked has now shut down. This kidney, if left untreated for just a few days, can lead to a permanent loss of the kidney. There are many potential causes of a kidney stone. They are formed from any of the following, or even two of the following: . a family genetic predisposition to form stone. to local water or soil conditions. intake of excess uric acid, certain medications, Vitamin C, or Vitamin D. a diet of fruits and vegetables high in oxalate. long term dehydration and its resulting concentration of urine. urinary infection. living in an area where high temperatures cause sweating and loss of fluids. possibly, just leading a low physical activity lifestyle Doctors and other physicians say that the best two ways to prevent this disease from happening is to keep yourself well hydrated at all times.

This is best done by drinking 2 or 3 cups of water a day and to only eat / drink a certain amount of the following foods: . apples. asparagus. beer. beets. berries, various. black pepper. broccoli. cheese. chocolate. cocoa. coffee. cola drinks. collards. figs. grapes. ice cream. milk. oranges. parsley. peanut butter. pineapples. spinach. Swiss chard. rhubarb. tea. turnips. vitamin C. yogurt If the kidney stone is larger than 1/4 inch in diameter it will most likely pass through the kidney without any medical treatments except for the pain killers to help the patient make it through the kidney stone episode which may last for several days. Those between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch in diameter are less likely to pass on their own as they get larger. If the kidney stone is larger than 1/2 inch in diameter it will likely need to be either removed by surgery or by. Lithrotripsy is the process of killing the stone by using extra corporeal shock wave. The larger stones usually remain in the kidney without any symptoms or complications although after they leave the kidney they will have left some permanent damage.

Kidney stone removal surgery is more serious than. It is only used in less than 5% of the kidney stone cases. During surgery the doctor actually opens up the kidney and physically takes out the stones. The surgery scar can be 5 to 10 inches long and recovering from the surgery takes four to six weeks. The worst thing about kidney stone surgery is that it causes the kidney to lose 20% of its functionality every time it is cut by a knife. They are just now making a lot of discoveries about kidney stones.

They have concluded that once you have a kidney stone attack the chances of recurrence are 70-80%. They know now that family genes vastly influence chances of having a kidney stone. The newest method of removing stones is, which was mentioned earlier, means "stone crushing". This process takes a range from one to three hours long. This concludes my report on Kidney Stones.