One in 10 Australians will develop kidney stones throughout their life.
These stones can be found incidentally without symptoms on X-Rays or CT scans, or the stone may move down and block the tube coming out of the kidney and cause severe pain.
Acute Renal Colic
Kidney stones that pass into the ureter and block the kidney can cause severe pain (Acute Renal Colic). This often results in a trip to the Emergency Department for pain relief.
If you have severe pain that could be due to kidney stones, you may need to call for an Ambulance on 000.
Mr Stephen Lindsay provides comprehensive care for patients with kidney stones at St John of God Bendigo Hospital.
We accept urgent referrals for patients with Private Health Insurance and those who can self-fund. You will need a referral from your GP or from an Emergency Department doctor. We can fast-track your care when we can, so that you are not waiting in pain.
Please note that there is no Emergency Department at St John of God Bendigo Hospital.
Treatment Options
Small kidney stones (less than 5mm) have a high chance (70- 80%) of passing without the need for surgery. Larger stones (over 7mm) have a less than 50% chance of passing, or even less of they get stuck in the upper ureter.
For small stones, we recommend:
• strong pain relief, Paracetamol (Panadol) and anti-inflammatories (eg Nurofen, Indocid suppositories)
• increased fluids to try to flush the stone
• medication may help the stone to pass spontaneously (eg Tamsulosin)
• strain your urine to catch the stone if you can
Lithotripsy (or ESWL)
Kidney stones can be broken up using sound waves as a Day procedure under a general anaesthetic.
A Lithotripsy machine generates sound waves which pass through the body. The sound waves are aimed at the kidney stone using ultrasound images and the shock wave shatters the stone, breaking it into sand-like fragments. The stone fragments then pass out of the body over the next few weeks in the urine.
After the procedure you may need strong pain relief and plenty of fluid hydration to allow the stone fragments to flush out of your body.
Endoscopic surgery from below (Ureteroscopy and flexible Pyeloureteroscopy)
We can remove stones in the bladder, ureter and kidney from below by passing a telescope from below through the bladder and up to the stone.
Small stones can be caught in a “basket” and removed. Larger stones usually need to be broken up into smaller fragments with LASER (Holmium or Thulium) so that the fragments can be removed.
Endoscopic surgery into the kidney (PCNL)
Large stones in the kidney (over 15-20mm) can be removed by passing a telescope through a small incision in the back, directly into the kidney (a percutaneous nephrolithotomy or PCNL). The stones are broken up and removed, leaving a drainage tube in the kidney overnight. Patients usually go home the next day.
Mr Stephen Lindsay has extensive experience with PCNL, doing over 120 cases during his training in Victoria and South Wales in the UK.