Overview
Urolithiasis is the formation of
urinary stones in the kidney, bladder, and/or urethra, as stated in the Introduction section.
Urolithiasis is a painful urologic disorder
that occurs in 12% of the global population and has a high recurrence rate of
71-80% among male patients. A detailed discussion about the prevalence of
urolithiasis is in the Epidemiology
section.
The Pathophysiology section
states that kidney stone formation begins with urinary supersaturation, where
substances such as calcium, oxalate, and phosphate exceed their solubility and
form crystals. The developmental process
of urolithiasis is in this section.
Conditions associated with
the development of urolithiasis are enumerated in the Risk Factors section.
The Classification section discusses the different
classifications of urinary stones, the analysis of stone composition, and stone
types.
Urolithiasis_Disease Summary
History and Physical Examination
The Clinical
Presentation section
describes the clinical features suggestive of patients with ureteral stones.
The History section
discusses the important information that should be elicited in patients
suspected of urolithiasis, while the Physical
Examination section
enumerates the assessments needed in these patients.
Diagnosis
Discussions on different
tests needed in emergency and non-emergency cases are in the Laboratory Tests and Ancillaries
section.
The Imaging section explains the choice of imaging
modality depending on the clinical situation of a patient with urolithiasis.
Other diseases that should be ruled out in the
diagnosis of urolithiasis are listed in the Differential
Diagnosis section.
Management
General therapy principles and management of urolithiasis
are in the Principles of Therapy
section.
The Pharmacological Therapy section discusses treatment options for urolithiasis, such
as medical expulsive therapy, chemolitholysis, supportive therapy, and drugs
used for stone prevention.
The Nonpharmacological section includes lifestyle modification and
observation or conservative treatment in the management of patients with
urolithiasis.
Surgery as a treatment
option in patients with urolithiasis is explained in the Surgery section.
The Monitoring section identifies indications
for follow-up in patients treated with urolithiasis.
