Patient's question:
One and a half months agoDoctor's answer:
Regular physical examinations, early detection, and early treatment, are also very important for preventing and treating kidney stones. Patients undergoing conservative treatment may even need to be examined every three months.The long-term recurrence rate of kidney stones is 100%.
"Kidney stones are more common in people in their thirties and forties," said Xia Qiang. Generally, people aged 20-50 are at risk of developing kidney stones, with fewer cases occurring before the age of 20. If someone doesn’t have kidney stones after the age of 50, it indicates good metabolic function, and the likelihood of developing them further decreases.
For these groups, routine health check-ups are very important. Early detection of abnormalities can help treat kidney stones with the least cost and suffering. Xia Qiang recommended that citizens without kidney stones undergo an annual health examination. For those who have previously had kidney stones and have now been cured, a check-up every six months is necessary. "Research shows that the long-term recurrence rate of kidney stones is 100% over an 18-year period," he emphasized. Currently, human understanding of kidney stones is still very limited, and treatment methods are merely "stone removal," unable to truly eliminate the root cause of kidney stones. Therefore, as long as a patient has had kidney stones, they are likely to recur in the future.
Conservative treatment patients need a check-up every three months
Some kidney stone patients, whose stones are less than 6mm in diameter and do not block the ureters, can undergo conservative treatment through increased fluid intake, exercise, and medication to expel the stones. However, Xia Qiang emphasized that these conservative treatment patients must undergo a check-up every three months to monitor any changes in the stone’s position and size.
Since the kidneys and bladder are connected via the ureters, with a distance of about 25 centimeters between them, stones excreted from the kidneys can block the ureters at any point, causing ureteral obstruction, which may further lead to kidney swelling or even loss of function. Therefore, even if stones are successfully expelled from the kidneys, monitoring their path and position is crucial.