Kidney & Bladder Stones
Kidney and bladder stones occur when minerals build up faster than they
can be removed by the body and form into small, hard nuggets, a.k.a. “stones.”
These stones can block urine drainage and result in acute pain and / or
blood in the urine. AUI urologists are very experienced in removing stones
with minimally invasive procedures from both adults and children.
Stones were once considered an affliction of middle age, but they are being
found with increasing frequency in children across the country. The two
leading causes are dehydration and a high-salt diet. In the bladder, stones
can also be caused by urine left over if the bladder is not emptying completely,
which is a medically treatable urological condition. Several different
minerals can cause stones, including calcium, oxalate, uric acid and phosphate.
Most stones are tiny and the body passes them in the urine. But some are
large enough to require removal by a doctor. AUI pediatric urologists
routinely remove kidney and bladder stones with techniques that require
only tiny incisions or no incisions at all, such as laparoscopy and sound
waves projected from outside the body to break the stone into pieces small
enough to pass in the urine.
If a stone is large enough to require more extensive surgery, AUI urologists
utilize the
da Vinci Robotic System to precisely remove the stone with small incisions and a very high rate
of success and safety.
You may be able to prevent pediatric stones by limiting your child’s
salt intake and ensuring that he or she drinks plenty of water. However,
if your child does develop kidney or bladder stones, AUI pediatric urologists
have the experience and the technology to safely remove them with treatments
that require minimal or no incision.