The kidneys are organs in the body that play an important role in keeping people healthy. The kidneys are a pair of organs found on either side of the backbone. The kidneys of an adult are approximately five inches long and about three inches wide and are shaped like a kidney bean. The kidneys function primarily as filters for the blood. The blood enters the kidney through the renal artery and travels through the kidney into small structures called Neophron. The neophron clean the blood by filtering out excess waste and fluid. The clean blood exits the kidney through the renal vein. The excess waste and fluid products exit the kidney through the ureter, circulate into the bladder and are excreted from the body as urine. This process continues 24 hours a day seven days a week so the total blood supply for the body is being filtered constantly. Some of the kidneys functions consist of removing waste products from your body through the urine, keeping the fluids balanced in your body, balancing the body’s chemicals and releasing hormones that are important in stabilizing blood pressure and forming red blood cells.
The kidneys’ functions are critical to sustain life. There are many different diseases of the kidney.
There are several types of treatments for kidney stones. The first type is an Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). This is the most frequently used procedure for kidney stones. Shock waves are composed outside the body and pass through the skin and body tissues until they hit the thicker stones. The stones are easily passed through the urinary tract into the urine because they breakdown into sand-like particles. ESWL has several types of devices. An example is when a patient laying in a water bath while the shock waves are disbursed. X-rays are mainly used because this helps the doctor pinpoint the stone during treatment. Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy is another type of treatment. This treatment is used when the stone is huge or in a bad location that does not allow effective use of ESWL. The surgeon creates a tunnel directly into the kidney by making a small incision in back. Using an instrument called a nephoscope, the surgeon finds and removes the stone. For bigger stones an energy probe is needed to break the stone into smaller particles. A patient’s hospital stay is generally a couple days for the healing process. Surgery should remain as an option for cases where other approaches or treatments have failed. Surgery might be needed if one of the following occurs:
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