Faisal Fareed
Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow
Lucknow, Aug 29: As the doctors peered at the X-ray film, they could hardly believe that the young man sitting in front of them had 85 stones in his right kidney. The patient was on the verge of kidney failure and needed immediate surgery to restore his kidney functions.
The last 5-6 years had been miserable for 36-year-old Shatrohan Lal of Sitapur. All this time he had been suffering from intense abdominal pain and had difficulty in passing urine. He had consulted various Ayurvedic and Homoeopathic doctors, but none could diagnose the actual cause of distress. With the doctors providing symptomatic treatment to relieve him from pain, his condition continued to deteriorate till he consulted Dr Bipin Chandra Pal at the RG Stone Urology and Laparoscopy Center.
After going through the diagnostic test reports, chief urologist at RG Stone Urology and Laparoscopy Center, Dr Bipin Chandra Pal, and consultant urologist, Dr Ashwini Pandey, opted for percutaneous nephrostolithotomy (PCNL), a minimal invasive surgical precedure used to treat complicated stone cases that. PCNL requires a few centimetre incisions and no sutures as the wound heals up in due course of time and is performed under general anesthesia. The technique is the latest approach for removal of large or complicated stones.
According to Dr Pal, who performed the 3-hour-long surgery, four holes (incisions) of about a centimetre each were made in the lower back of the patient. Through these holes the surgeons insert a telescope, laser equipment, equipment to make holes inside the kidney and drain tubes.
After making a hole in the kidney, the stones were crushed by a laser beam. A plastic tube (called nephrostomy tube) was temporarily left in the kidney with one end coming out of the body at the flank. The tube optimised drainage of urine from kidney to remove the crushed stones.
According to Dr Pandey, even a simple urine infection can be a reason for stones that can damage the kidney. He said symptoms like pain in the flank, blood in urine, heaviness at the back, burning sensation while passing urine should not be ignored and consult the doctor.
"Earlier, the open surgery of removal of stones required a nine-inch cut but with advancement in surgical techniques, the surgery is now possible through small incisions." Dr Pandey added.