Renal colic is the main symptom of kidney stones: very intense pain in the lumbar area due to the obstruction of the urinary tract by solid material (calculi or stones) that may be accompanied by nausea or blood in the urine and that, if not treated in time, can lead to kidney complications, kidney failure, and even the need for dialysis.
The treatment for renal colic has two approaches: controlling the pain and eliminating the stone(s). A large percentage of stones are eliminated from the body without the need for medical treatment. Applying heat to the area with intense pain is very useful in many cases, as is popularly believed. Heat causes dilation of the vessels where the stone may be moving, which can help its expulsion.
However, if they are too large to be expelled naturally, they will require medical treatment to remove them.
One of the most used techniques for their extraction is extracorporeal lithotripsy, in which shock waves are generated and directed directly at the kidney stone to fragment it and then eliminate it in smaller fragments through the urine. Ureteroscopy can also be an option, in which stones are removed through the ducts themselves with a ureteroscope, an instrument with an incorporated camera to locate and extract the stone. Intervention can even be performed through a small incision in the back to create a narrow tunnel to the kidney to locate and extract the stone.
To prevent new stone formation in the kidney, it is recommended to follow specific guidelines: drink plenty of fluids (at least 2 liters a day), change your diet to a low-calorie one, limiting the consumption of salt, sugars, and alcohol, as well as reducing meat consumption (if the stones are of the uric acid type) and paying special attention tourinary pH. Even so, the most important thing to prevent future kidney stones will be to know their composition. For this, it is very important that until the kidney stone is expelled, we filter our urine daily with the help of, for example, a strainer. Thanks to having collected the stone, the specialist will be able to determine, based on its composition, the ideal preventive measures to avoid a new episode of kidney stone.
Maintaining a preventive pH range of 5.5-6.2 is fundamental so that the acidity level of the urine does not favor stone formation. This can be achieved through the Lit-Control method, which allows you to measure and control urinary pH at all times to know if there is a risk of stone formation or not. This provides security and peace of mind to people prone to kidney stone formation, a condition that affects between 5% and 16% of the Spanish population.
