Now scientists have used a new technique to get rid of patients from kidney stones. With the use of this technique, the patient will no longer need to undergo surgery to remove the stones.
A new study has found that sound waves can break kidney stones into smaller pieces. Researchers at the University of Washington found in a study that the burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) technique could break up kidney stones into smaller pieces, making them easier to pass through urine.
Researchers said that this treatment took only 10 minutes. During the treatment, through this technique, the stones present in the kidney were made very fine. The researchers said that the patient suffering from kidney stones experienced a lot of pain. Therefore, this technique will now prove to be very beneficial for the patients.
Small pieces of stone made under the ‘BWL’ procedure
This information has been given in the research published in ‘Journal of Urology’. In this study, researchers included 19 people who were suffering from kidney stones. He used sound waves on the kidney stone as part of the ‘BWL’ procedure, which broke up small pieces of the stone.
Researchers said that the procedure did not cause pain to the patients and it was much easier than surgery. During the research, 19 patients had 25 kidney stones and all were treated under the ‘BWL’ procedure for ten minutes. During treatment, 90 percent of the stones were broken through this process and 40 percent of those stones were completely broken.
This treatment system can prove to be a game changer
The research found that the remaining pieces of stones were small enough that patients could easily remove these stones through urine. Also, no side effects were found in the patients with this treatment. During the treatment, only the small tissues of the patients suffered minor injuries.
The researchers said in their study that if this process is adopted on a large scale to treat patients, then this treatment system could prove to be a gamechanger in the treatment of kidney stones. The study reported that about 10 percent of Americans suffer from kidney stones every year, causing a loss of about $10 billion annually to the country’s economy.
People with higher risk of getting kidney stones
Kidney stones are formed when minerals accumulate in a person and they become hard as they accumulate. It needs to be removed from the body to get rid of it, but it is an extremely painful and difficult process. People who are overweight or obese, and don’t drink enough water every day or make poor dietary choices, have a higher risk of developing stones.
Treatment of stones like this will be done by lithotripsy machine
The lithotripsy machine sends high-pressure sound waves into the patient’s body. Shock waves (sound waves) focus on the stone. Then the stone will be focused through waves to break it. After this, 1 to 2 thousand shocks are done through the shock web at the same place.
The impact of sound waves breaks the stone into fine pieces. After this these fine pieces of stone can be taken out through urine. The whole process of breaking the stones present in the kidney with this machine takes 10 minutes. The patient does not need to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.