Urinary stone disease

(Baonghean) -Urinary stones are a common and recurring disease, caused by the crystallization of some components in urine. Stones can cause pain, urinary tract obstruction and infection, which is very harmful to the patient's health.

The disease is caused by many factors: genetics, congenital urinary tract malformations, infections, improper diet and lifestyle, patients lying down for long periods with little exercise... Urinary stones are common in working age, more common in men than in women.
Symptom

- Renal colic: Stones form silently and are often first detected by colic pain. The patient has sudden, severe pain in the lumbar region, spreading to the lower abdomen, to the groin and genitals. The pain often appears after strenuous exercise (running, riding on bad roads...), causing the stone to move to a narrowed area, causing urinary tract obstruction. Symptoms will gradually subside after resting and being able to urinate.

- Painful urination, bloody urine: Depending on the level of damage to the urinary tract, urine will range in color from light pink to red.

- Pyelonephritis due to urine retention: Patients have cloudy urine, pain in the back - waist. The majority of cases have high fever, chills; if late, there may be edema, vomiting, loss of appetite... Because the kidney's ability to compensate is very good, there are cases where kidney stones are only discovered when there are signs of pyelonephritis.

Evolution

Urinary stones cause urinary tract obstruction and can lead to many complications:

- Infection: especially urinary tract infections can lead to sepsis
- Blood in urine
- Chronic renal failure

The disease usually develops on both sides and often recurs. If not treated promptly, kidney function will be impaired, causing high blood pressure.

Treatment

The pain means that the urinary tract is blocked and stretched, creating a spasm to expel the stone. The patient should try to rest in the most comfortable position, relieve pain by massaging and acupressure on the back and lumbar region and see a doctor. Painkillers can be used as directed by the doctor.

Depending on the cause of the disease, different treatments can be applied such as: using a lithotripsy machine, endoscope, urinary tract plastic surgery...

Disease prevention

Because the disease is very likely to recur, prevention is very necessary:

- Proactively prevent factors that can cause urinary tract infections, drink enough water (especially in hot weather, when doing heavy work). Do not hold back for long when you need to urinate. If there are signs of painful or frequent urination, you should use available diuretics such as corn silk, plantain...

- When you discover a disease or are at risk of getting it, you should drink plenty of water to excrete more than 1.5 liters of urine each day.

- Regularly have periodic health check-ups to detect early risk factors for disease, diagnose and treat promptly if you have stones, and avoid complications.

Quynh Trang (Center for Health Promotion)