kidney anatomy
Kidney stones are made of salts and minerals in the urine that stick together to form small "pebbles." They can be as small as grains of sand or as large as golf balls. They may stay in the kidney or travel out of your body through the urinary tract.
kidney anatomy
Urinary tract is a system that makes urine and take it out of your body. This consists of the kidneys, the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder (ureters), bladder, and the tube that leads from the bladder out of the body (urethra).
When the stone moves through the urinary tract, may cause pain. Or maybe cause extreme pain and other symptoms.
Look at the pictures of kidney stones and a stone traveling through a ureter.
Kidney stones are made of salts and minerals in the urine that stick together to form small "pebbles." They probably formed when the normal balance of water, salts, minerals and other substances found in urine changes. How does this change the balance determines the type of kidney stone you have. Most of the calcium-type kidney stones they form when levels of calcium in your urine changes.
Kidney stones in the urinary tract
kidney anatomy
Kidney stones are made of salts and minerals in the urine that stick together to form small "pebbles." They are usually painless while they remain in the kidney, but they can cause severe pain as they break free and travel through narrow tubes (ureters) to exit the body during.
kidney anatomy
Symptoms of kidney stone include severe pain on one side of the back, just below the rib cage (flank pain). The pain may spread to the groin, lower abdomen, and genital area. Other symptoms include blood in the urine (hematuria), painful or frequent urination (dysuria), and nausea and vomiting.
kidney anatomy
Pain can be severe enough to require narcotic pain relievers. Stomach area (abdomen) or back might feel tender to the touch.
You may find that you have kidney stones when you see your doctor or go to the emergency room with pain in stomach or side. The doctor will ask questions about your pain and lifestyle. He will examine you and may do imaging tests such as X-rays to see the kidney and urinary tract.
kidney anatomy
Tests for kidney stones include:
Analysis of the stone to show what type of rock
Uric acid levels
kidney anatomy
Urine to see crystals and red blood cells in urine
Stone or blockage of the ureter can be viewed at:
CT scan of the abdomen
Abdominal / kidney MRI
Abdominal x-ray
Intravenous pyelogram (IVP)
Kidney Ultrasound
Retrograde pyelogram
kidney anatomy
Tests may show high levels of calcium, oxylate, or uric acid in the urine or blood.