Overview
Lithotripsy is a new and non-invasive treatment for kidney stones. The FDA approved the first lithotripter in 1990 as a safe, gentle and effective alternative to other kinds of surgery for removing most urinary stones.
What are the types of Lithotripsy surgery?
Lithotripsy is a procedure that uses sound waves to fragment kidney stones.
There are three types of lithotripsy:
- Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy (ESWL)
During ESWL, shockwave energy is transmitted into the kidney stone through a hand-held machine. The sound waves cause cracks to form in the stone, which eventually cause it to break apart into smaller pieces that pass out of the body naturally in urine. Lithotripsy is used only to treat small kidney stones that can be seen on a CT scan or x-ray. Most patients require multiple treatment sessions over several weeks.
- Laser Lithotripsy:
This Lithotripsy procedure is done by careful means. A slender degree is embedded into the urinary plot of the patient to notice the place of the stone. When the stone is found, a laser fibre is gone through the functioning shaft of the extension and extreme focus laser radiates are discharged straightforwardly to the stone to crumble it. Bigger and harder stones can be broken down utilizing laser lithotripsy. It is by and large fitting to go for laser lithotripsy for kidney stones.
- Holmium Laser Lithotripsy:
Holmium Laser Lithotripsy is a superior laser lithotripsy method. During this cycle holmium laser, producing infrared pillars (2100nm frequency), is utilised to crumble the stones. This cycle is exceptionally utilised for stones, which are huge in size or have a high focus.
What are the indications for Lithotripsy?
The signs for lithotripsy include:
- Inordinate torment in the organs
- Harm to the organ and loss of capacity of the organ where the stone is available
- Contaminations emerging in the urinary plot of the body
- Inner draining in the organs
- The stone obstructing standard progression of pee
What all tests are to be done before & after Lithotripsy?
The tests to be done before the lithotripsy treatment include:
- A complete physical examination, completed to decide the size, area and number of stones present in the body
- A pregnancy test is finished ladies of kid bearing age to ensure that the lady isn’t pregnant as the shockwaves and lasers can hurt the child.
- For patients of older age, an EKG test is performed to guarantee that the patient experiences no potential coronary illness.
- Tests for hypersensitive responses are done to guarantee that the patient isn’t adversely affected by any of the parts of the prescriptions and liquids utilized in the lithotripsy treatment.
After the lithotripsy strategy, a couple of tests are performed to decide the outcome of the method. Patients are by and large released around the same time of the treatment and tests are done following a couple of days to ensure that the stone particles are not really left in the organ.
What are the complications of lithotripsy?
Patients might observe some lithotripsy secondary effects after the technique. These include:
- Disease
- Little bits of stones stopped into the ureters, obstructing the progression of pee from the kidneys to the bladder
- Anomaly developing in the kidney work after lithotripsy
- Bleeding around the organ after the strategy. Blood bonding might be expected to treat this complexity
Estimated cost of lithotripsy in India?
The cost of lithotripsy in India is competitive with most Western countries. The cost of treatment depends on the size and number of calculi, your geographic location and the hospital or clinic used, whether it is a public or private facility. This procedure is usually performed in a hospital or a clinic by a urologist and an interventional radiologist. The cost of Lithotripsy in India ranges between $2000 to $4500, depending on the experience of the surgeon and also on the machine used for the procedure.