Advanced Urology Institute: Strategies for Kidney Stones Prevention

Kidney stones. A pang of fear shoots through you at the mention. You shudder as your mind flits to the pain associated with them – but the experts at the Advanced Urology Institute in Largo, Florida, aim to alter that narrative with effective prevention strategies.

It’s All About Prevention

“Blasts the stone from outside the body,” Chad Bryan, a Physician Assistant at Advanced Urology Institute, Largo, FL, describes a popular medical procedure to extract kidney stones. He details various processes from the science-y “shockwave lithotripsy” to “putting tubes in the kidneys” to remove the stones. But Bryan and his team have one focus, “The best thing is to prevent them from happening.”

Don’t simply wait for the next stone to form, they urge. The goal is to treat the patient holistically and understand how the stone was formed. “What does your diet look like? You need to drink more water. You need more fluid. You need to maybe put lemons in your water. The citric acid in the lemons helps prevent the stones from sticking together.”

The 24-Hour Urine Collection

When prevention doesn’t stop the formation of another stone, Bryan and the other urologists at the clinic turn to a strategy known as a 24-hour urine collection. In Bryan’s words, “You urinate in a jug for 24 hours and it tells us exactly your kidney’s putting out this, it’s not doing enough of this.” A detailed analysis that provides further knowledge and understanding to tailor a specific preventive strategy for the patient.

Bryan sums up the sentiment of the entire team, “I mean kidney stones are no fun for anyone…our job if we can prevent stones we’re winning.”

The Role of Hydration

“The first thing we tell our patients is to make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids. We want to keep your urine clear to light yellow,” shares Webb R. McCanse, MD, a Board Certified Urologist at Advanced Urology Institute, Largo, FL. Even with adequate hydration, some patients persist in developing stones. The next phase then, in Dr. McCanse’s words, is to figure out “if we have too much of the bad, not enough of the good.” Diet alterations or medication adjustments might then be prescribed to help prevent further stones.

Choosing Advanced Urology Institute

No one seeks the distress and discomfort of kidney stones. The dedicated urologists at the Advanced Urology Institute leverage their expertise and cutting-edge medical technology to diagnose and prevent the recurrence of kidney stones. Based in Largo, FL, they are the largest urology practice in the state, a testament to their commitment and success in providing the highest level of care to their patients. Choosing the Advanced Urology Institute is choosing a comprehensive and personalized approach to your healthcare, with a team dedicated to preventing kidney stones and improving your quality of life.

References:

Transcription:

Chad Bryan, PA-C (Physician Assistant at Largo, FL):

We do all the different procedures to actually extract the stones, where we can take scopes and put you to sleep and remove the stones through a scope. We can do shockwave lithotripsy, which is the machine that creates energy and kind of blasts the stone from outside the body. 

We can put tubes in the kidneys, a variety of different things to remove the stones. But the best thing is to prevent them from happening. So we always like once we get that first stone patient, once again, we’re not, oh, stone’s out, see you later when you get another one. We want to treat the patient, like I said, from top to bottom. 

So, hey, why did you form this stone? What does your diet look like? You need to drink more water. You know, you need more fluid. You need to maybe put lemons in your water. The citric acid in the lemons help prevent the stones from sticking together. So, and if they form another stone, then you can do a 24-hour urine. 

So you urinate in a jug for 24 hours and it tells us exactly your kidney’s putting out this, it’s not doing enough of this, and then we can kind of come together the best way to conclude and prevent any other stones in the future. So it’s a great, it’s another great side of urology. I mean kidney stones are no fun for anyone. You know obviously it’s good for business for people to get stones but our job if we can prevent stones we’re winning.

Webb R. McCanse, MD (Board Certified Urologist at Largo, FL):

In order to prevent making stones the first thing we tell our patients make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids. We want to keep your urine clear to light yellow. In some cases, in spite of that, patients will still make a lot of stones. 

And the best way for us to try to figure out what to do to treat those is to have them give us a 24-hour urine collection that’ll tell us if we have too much of the bad, not enough of the good, and then we can determine whether changing your diet or changing the medications might make a difference to help prevent making any further stones.