A kidney stone is formed by minerals in urine and can be extremely painful. Pain in the lower abdomen or sometimes while urinating due to kidney stone takes away a lot of energy. In some cases, it can cause bleeding, blockage and interferes with kidney function which can eventually lead to kidney damage.

It is recommended to opt for proper treatment than having normal medicines. There are various methods for removal of kidney stones with the advancement in medical science and technology. Shockwave Lithotripsy and Flexible Ureterostomy are considered as the best treatments because it does not involve the hassle of open surgery. But if the stone is larger in size, the patient will have to undertake open surgery.

• ESWL

This stands for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. In this procedure, the stone is broken down into smaller pieces by shock waves. The broken pieces can be removed from the body easily through urine. This process is simple and effective for small sized stones i.e. 4mm to 2 cm. The patient can even go back home few hours after this treatment.

• Ureteroscopy

This process involves removing stones which have already got down urinary tract and are nearby bladder. The urologists insert an instrument which is thin and locates the stone inside the ureter. The instrument is called as ureteroscope. This instrument passes through the bladder and shows the picture of stone on the computer. If the identified stone is smaller in size, it can be removed using basket- an instrument used to grab the stone and remove it. If the stone is larger, then it would need to be broken down into fragments and rest follows.

• Surgery

This procedure is undertaken by the doctors when the size of the stone present is quite large and cannot be treated by simple methods such as ESWL or PCNL. An open surgery is done to remove the larger stones developed in the kidney of the patient. In this process, an incision is made in the abdomen or on the side through which the kidney is reached and thereby the stone is removed. Till the patient gets recovered, the doctor then fits a catheter for the drain of the urine. It takes a week for the patient to recover.

Cost of kidney stone treatment in Delhi may vary with respect to the size of stone and type of hospital you prefer. It can be as low as Rs.30000 to Rs.250000. Open surgery obviously costs more than ESWL or Ureteroscopy.