Nephrologist (Pediatric) Questions Kidney Stones

My 15 year old son has been diagnosed with kidney stones. How can this be treated?

My son is 15 years old and has been diagnosed with kidney stones. The doctor thinks they are too big for him to pass naturally. What can be done to treat this?

5 Answers

I would need to know what the stone is made of and/or information obtained by analyzing the contents of your son's urine to have a better idea of what to do next. This testing goes by several different names, but we call it a stone risk profile, and it's a careful look at the chemical contents of your son's urine.
It all depends on the composition of the stone. Please discuss with your nephrologist and urologist.
It really depends on the size of the stone whether surgical intervention is needed. He certainly needs medical nutrition therapy for future stone prevention after the acute episode is dealt with.

Best regards,

Aftab S. Chishti, M.D., FAAP., FASN., C.C.S.T.
Your son should be referred to a paediatric urologist for the management of the stones and to a paediatric urologist for the workup for treatable causes. Owing to the poor diet and high salt intake, 56% of patients in the paediatric age group now have kidney stones because there is not enough citrate for a given amount of calcium in the urine. The second most common reason is hypercalciuria. Often this is caused by eating too much salt, which leads to calcium wasting. There are rare other causes such as hyperoxaluria and cystinuria or hypomagnesuria that can cause kidney stones and may need very specific treatment. Your paediatric nephrologist can counsel you. For sure, you should start immediately with a high water intake to dilute the urine, and reduce the salt intake to less than 1500 mg per day. This is not easy as 75% or more of the salt in the diet of our children and adolescents comes from processed food. Home cooked meals from scratch are preferable. Read the sodium label. More than 97% of Americans eat more than 1500 mg of salt per day. The salt intake of children and adolescents has increased 10-fold over the past 25 years. There also is insufficient intake of vegetables, which provide the vitally important citrate and potassium. Another source of citrate is lemon juice concentrate. You can encourage the intake of lemon juice, there are even studies with lemonade in the adult literature. Citrate and potassium, apart from high water intake, are the two main minerals that reduce new stone formation. However, while smaller stones may pass, larger stones may require the assistance of paediatric urologists to remove the stone. For sure, pain and blood urine should prompt a visit to the emergency room. Passing stones may be the most painful event known to man. The paediatric urology team has multiple methods to deal with large stones, including lithotrypsy, percutaneous lithotomy, and others. Your paediatric urologist will guide you to the most effective and least traumatic option.
That depends on the cause of the stone. He should be seen by a kidney doctor. There are some tests will need to be done and, according to the findings, your son may receive specific therapy. Most of the time there is no specific medications to give. The most important thing in the treatment of all types of kidney stones is to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated.