Kidney Stones (Print Version)

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Kidney Stones

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/kidneystones.html

Also called: Also called: Nephrolithiasis

A kidney stone is a solid piece of material that forms in the kidney from substances in the urine. It may be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a pearl. Most kidney stones pass out of the body without help from a doctor. But sometimes a stone will not go away. It may get stuck in the urinary tract, block the flow of urine and cause great pain.

The following may be signs of kidney stones that need a doctor's help:

Extreme pain in your back or side that will not go away
Blood in your urine
Fever and chills
Vomiting
Urine that smells bad or looks cloudy
A burning feeling when you urinate

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Start Here

Kidney Stones(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/kidneystones/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/kidneystonesspanish/htm/index.htm
Kidney Stones in Adults(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/stonesadults/

Overviews

JAMA Patient Page: Kidney Stones(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/293/9/1158.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/293/9/1158/DC1/1
Kidney Stones(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/kidney-stones/DS00282/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
What I Need to Know about Kidney Stones(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/stones_ez/
Also available in Spanish http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/spanish/pubs/stones_ez/index.htm

Latest News

More Kids Getting Kidney Stones(09/18/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69459.html

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Abdominal Pain(DSHI Systems) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.freemd.com/abdominal-pain/visit-virtual-doctor.htm
Abdominal Pain, Short-Term(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/527.printerview.html
Abdominal Ultrasound(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) - http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=abdominus&bhcp=1
Also available in Spanish http://www.radiologyinfo.org/sp/info.cfm?pg=abdominus
Calcium Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/calcium/test.html
Intravenous Pyelogram(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/ivp/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/ivpspanish/htm/index.htm
Uric Acid Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/uric_acid/test.html

Treatment

Cystoscopy - Men(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cystoscopymale/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cystoscopymalespanish/htm/index.htm
Cystoscopy - Women(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cystoscopyfemale/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cystoscopyfemalespanish/htm/index.htm
Kidney Stones: Do Home Remedies Work?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/kidney-stones/AN01374/METHOD=print
Lithotripsy(National Kidney Foundation) - http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=87

Prevention/Screening

Keep Your Kidneys Clear: Kicking Kidney Stones(National Institutes of Health) - http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2008/October/feature2.htm

Nutrition

Diet and Kidney Stones(National Kidney Foundation) - http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=41
Also available in Spanish http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItemSP.cfm?id=3

Specific Conditions

What Is Hyperoxaluria and Oxalosis?(Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation) - http://www.ohf.org/about_disease.html

Related Issues

Your Joint Replacement: Urological Procedures & Antibiotics(American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) - http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00383

Tutorials

Cystoscopy - Men(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cystoscopymale/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cystoscopymalespanish/htm/index.htm
Cystoscopy - Women(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cystoscopyfemale/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cystoscopyfemalespanish/htm/index.htm
Intravenous Pyelogram(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/ivp/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/ivpspanish/htm/index.htm
Kidney Stones(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/kidneystones/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/kidneystonesspanish/htm/index.htm

Videos

Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy(OR-Live) - Requires media player - One hour program - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=210

Anatomy/Physiology

Your Kidneys and How They Work(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/
Also available in Spanish http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/spanish/pubs/yourkids/

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Nephrolithiasis(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Nephrolithiasis%22

Genetics

Genetics Home Reference: Cystinuria(National Library of Medicine) - http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=cystinuria

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Contaminated infant formula sickens 6200 babies in China. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18801873&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: NHERF1 mutations and responsiveness of renal parathyroid hormone. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18784102&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in pediatric patients using a late... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18721967&tool=MedlinePlus
Kidney Stones -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=kidney+calculi[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Kidney Diseases Dictionary(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/kdictionary/

Directories

Directory of Kidney and Urologic Diseases Organizations(National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/resources/organizations.htm
Find a Urologist(American Urological Association) - http://www.urologyhealth.org/find_urologist/

Organizations

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov/
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/
National Kidney Foundation - http://www.kidney.org/
Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation - http://www.ohf.org/

Statistics

Kidney and Urologic Diseases Statistics for the United States(National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) - http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/kustats/

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Kidney Diseases - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/kidneydiseases.html
Kidneys and Urinary System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/kidneysandurinarysystem.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Kidney Stones is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov/

Kidney Stones - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/kidneystones.html

Date last updated: October 30 2008

Topic last reviewed: October 30 2008