one more questions this one about kidney stones-?

Question

how long does it take to pass one? Also- could it take up to a month- and would they do xrays for this?? Or just cat scans and mris???

Answer 1

Some kidney stones are big and stay stuck up in the kidney for the lifetime of the patient. (Staghorn calculus)

It's the small kidney stones that trickle down the ureters (from kidney to bladder) and cause terrible pain as the ureter tries to push it down into the bladder (renal colic). The passage of these stones depends on how big they are. 6mm stones or smaller tend to pass - and this usually takes a 1-3 days. Bigger stones tend to get stuck, and the urologist has to go and grab them with a snare or use various tools to break them up or push them back into the kidney.

If the patient has had lithotripsy (use of focused ultrasound shock waves to break a big stone up) they could have the passage of lots of tiny stones over a week or so.

The best test to look at kidney stones is a CT scan. 80% of stones show on x-ray (particularly if they contain calcium) and once a CT scan (or CAT scan) is done, then urologists will mostly follow the progress with the plain x-rays if they can.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

it depends on how big they are. An xray may show the stone depending on again how big it is. Ultrasounds and CT Scans can show the placement of the stone.