A new, almost painless treatment to cure kidney stones, which can take just 30 minutes to carry out, has been developed. Doctors at the London Clinic have refined a procedure called lithotripsy which disintegrates the stones with shock waves much faster than current treatments.
Urine does contain chemicals to stop kidney stones from forming but these seem to be ineffective in some people. While small kidney stones may pass unnoticed in the urine, larger ones may cause spasms of the ureter wall or overwhelming pain in the back, stomach, and groin.
About 2 percent of people in Britain will suffer from kidney stones at some point. Until lithotripsy was first introduced in 1980, patients needed surgery to remove stones. Non-surgical lithotripsy, which involves blasting the stones with shock waves to break them down, has revolutionized the treatment of kidney and ureter stones.
Until now, the technique, while more convenient than surgery, still involved at least two 90-minute treatments and the patient needed anesthetics and high doses of painkillers. But now, it takes just one 30-minute session with just a simple painkiller.
