What is the best way to treat hydronephrosis of kidney stones

Hydronephrosis is the accumulation of water caused by kidney stones. After suffering from this disease, the patient will have symptoms such as back pain, lumbar cramps, lumbar swelling, mental depression, anemia, and anorexia. You can use B-ultrasound or CT scan to confirm whether you have hydronephrosis. There are many ways to treat hydronephrosis of kidney stones, and the key point of treatment is to relieve urinary tract obstruction. Below we will introduce some relevant knowledge about kidney stones and hydronephrosis.

What symptoms does a patient have after kidney stones cause hydronephrosis?

After hydronephrosis forms, the patient will experience symptoms such as lower back pain on the affected side due to increased pressure in the renal pelvis and calyces. If it is an acute obstruction, the patient may experience colic, which manifests as severe and unbearable pain in the lower back, and may even cause restlessness and profuse sweating. It may also be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. During physical examination, there is obvious percussion pain on the affected side of the waist. Patients with chronic obstruction often present with symptoms such as lower back discomfort, bloating and pain. If urinary tract infection occurs, systemic symptoms such as increased pain, chills and fever may occur. Because the function of the glomerulus to secrete urine is reduced after hydronephrosis, toxins in the body cannot be excreted. Patients with bilateral hydronephrosis or congenital solitary kidney with only one kidney may experience symptoms of renal insufficiency such as anorexia, mental depression, anemia, and edema. A small number of patients with bilateral renal stones or solitary kidney stones develop acute urinary tract obstruction, clinically manifested by acute anuria.

What tests should be done if kidney stones and hydronephrosis are suspected?

If you suspect kidney stones combined with hydronephrosis, you should first undergo an ultrasound examination. B-ultrasound is a simple, safe and non-invasive examination method that can not only understand the location, size and number of kidney stones, but also roughly determine the degree of hydronephrosis and the condition of the renal parenchyma. However, B-ultrasound images have poor resolution and are greatly affected by intestinal contents, so they are generally only used as a preliminary examination. The more accurate examination methods are CT and intravenous urography (IVU). There are two types of CT: plain scan and enhanced scan. The latter requires intravenous injection of contrast agent, which has a certain impact on renal function. If the patient has renal insufficiency, enhanced CT examination is not suitable, and IVU examination is also not suitable.

How to treat hydronephrosis caused by kidney stones?

From a professional perspective, hydronephrosis is not a disease, but a pathological change caused by urinary tract obstruction. Therefore, the key to treating hydronephrosis is to relieve urinary tract obstruction. For hydronephrosis caused by kidney stones, as long as the stones are cured, the hydronephrosis will naturally be reduced or eliminated. Depending on the specific circumstances such as the size, location and duration of obstruction of the stone, different methods such as medication, extracorporeal lithotripsy and surgery can be used to remove the stone. Sometimes the condition is urgent, such as when it is complicated by acute urinary tract infection or renal insufficiency, in order to relieve the condition as soon as possible, you can first treat the hydronephrosis and drain the urine, and leave the stones to be dealt with after the condition improves. Treatment options include percutaneous renal drainage and transurethral ureteral drainage.