Urolithiasis Stone Surgeries

Urolithiasis is a condition arising from the formation of renal calculi when the urine is supersaturated with salt and minerals such as calcium oxalate, struvite (ammonium magnesium phosphate), uric acid and cystine. 80% of stones contain calcium. These urinary tract stones vary considerably in size from small 'gravel-like' stones to large staghorn calculi. The calculi may stay in the position in which they are formed, or migrate down the urinary tract, producing symptoms along the way.

Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy(PCNL)

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy is a surgery to remove kidney stones that are too large to pass on their own. A healthcare provider usually suggests percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) when other methods to pass a kidney stone are unsuccessful or not possible.

Is PCNL a Major Surgery?

PCNL is a minimally invasive surgery that has fewer complications, less impact on your body and allows you to heal faster than open surgery, it’s still a major surgery.

Mini PCNL

The treatment of larger kidney stones can be complicated. One of the most effective ways we treat kidney larger stones is through a highly specialized procedure called a tubeless mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini PCNL). This minimally invasive surgery allows us to remove kidney stones through tiny incisions and provides patients with quicker and smoother recoveries, especially compared to treatments that were used in the past.

Benefits of mini PCNL?

What separates mini PCNL from a standard PCNL is that it’s performed through a smaller opening and with smaller instruments. As a result, patients experience:

Less discomfort
Less pain
No drainage tube in the back
Quicker recoveries

Ureteroscopy(URS)

Ureteroscopy is an outpatient procedure most commonly done to treat stones in the ureters (the tubes that connect your bladder to your kidneys) or kidney. It may also be used to evaluate and treat other causes of kidney blockage or blood in your urine.there are two ways to perform ureteroscopy for stones:

If the stone is small, your healthcare provider will insert a scope into the ureter to remove the stone. The type of scope used in this procedure will have a small basket at the end of a wire that is run through an extra channel in the ureteroscope. The basket is used to collect the stone.
In cases when the stone is larger, your healthcare provider will extend a flexible fiber through the scope up to the stone. With a laser beam shining through the scope, the healthcare provider will break the stone into pieces small enough to be passed out of the body with urine.

Retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS)

It is performed using a flexible instrument passed through the lower urinary tract and ureter in the retrograde fashion led to beginning of a new era in urology.RIRS has become possible resulting from the development of miniaturized flexible ureteroscopes with improved optics, better deflection mechanism and appropriate accessory instruments for stone retrieval and fragmentation.