What are the symptoms of urethral stones

After the onset of urethral stones, patients often feel pain in the urinary tract, especially when urinating. Symptoms of frequent urination and urgency will occur frequently. They will also feel pain in the urethra, and the urine may contain blood. It may even cause hydronephrosis. Therefore, the health of the urethra has always been a concern for everyone, and it is particularly worthy of attention.

The early symptoms of ureteral stones are as follows:

1. Frequent urination, urgency and pain during urination: These are typical symptoms of ureteral stones. This is mainly due to the muscle connection between the bladder trigone and the lower ureter, which is directly attached to the posterior urethra, leading to symptoms of frequent urination, urgency and pain during urination.

2. Hematuria: Hematuria is mostly caused by damage to the renal and ureteral mucosa by stones. The severity is proportional to the degree of harm. It often manifests as microscopic hematuria or hematuria visible to the naked eye after the pain. Some larger stones may not affect urine excretion and may only cause hematuria and dull pain without other obvious symptoms, but patients should not take it lightly.

3. Hydronephrosis: This symptom is mainly caused by stone obstruction. In addition, some patients may also experience symptoms such as renal insufficiency, gastrointestinal diseases, and anemia.

The above are some common symptoms of ureteral stones. If you find yourself having similar symptoms, please go to a diagnostic hospital as soon as possible for a diagnosis and cooperate with the doctor's treatment to prevent the stones from continuing to expand and grow.

How are ureteral stones diagnosed?

1. Plain films and cross-sectional films of the urinary system: Plain films must include the entire urinary system. More than 90% of stones are visible on X-rays, and the depth of the appearance is related to the chemical composition, size and thickness of the stones. Kidney stones of different compositions are arranged in order of their development strength: calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate and ammonium magnesium phosphate, cystine and calcium-containing urate. Pure uric acid stones do not show up. The degree of stone visualization on plain films is affected by many factors. For example, in patients with small stones, excessive intestinal gas, and obese patients, the visualization is often unsatisfactory. Tomographic X-rays can produce clearer films at different levels and can also show smaller stones. The radiopaque shadows that appear on plain films should be distinguished from calcifications of abdominal lymph nodes, phleboliths, bone islands, renal tuberculosis, and renal tumors.

2. Secretory urography: It can show the changes in renal structure and function caused by stones, and whether there are some factors that cause stones. Negative stones appear as incomplete filling in the developed renal pelvis, similar to space-occupying changes. When renal function is poor and imaging is poor, high-dose secretory urography can be used.

3. Type B ultrasound diagnosis: stones appear as special acoustic shadows. It can detect small stones and X-ray-transparent stones that are not visible on plain films. It can help us understand the impact of stone obstruction on renal structure.

4. Cystoscopy and retrograde pyelography: Cystoscopy is not a routine diagnosis. It is suitable for situations where the diagnosis is still unclear after secretory urography, such as intravenous pyelography (IVP), in which the kidney does not show or shows poorly, and the possibility of negative stones is considered to eliminate obstruction and stenosis of the ureter below the stone.

5. CT diagnosis: CT can confirm the diagnosis of uric acid stones that are not visible on X-rays.

6. Ureterorenoscopy diagnosis: KUB does not show stones but IVP shows filling and incompleteness, which cannot confirm the diagnosis. This diagnosis can clearly confirm the diagnosis.

7. Magnetic resonance urography (MRU) (optional): Due to the limitations of imaging principles and spatial resolution, MRU is difficult to directly visualize stones and is generally not used for the diagnosis of ureteral stones. However, because MRU is not affected by changes in renal function, it can obtain images similar to IVU without contrast agents and can understand urinary tract obstruction caused by ureteral stones. Therefore, it can be considered for pregnant women, patients with severe renal function damage or allergy to contrast agents who are not suitable for X-ray diagnosis (IVU or CT).

There are many diagnostic methods for ureteral stones now, so patients can choose the method that suits them for diagnosis. Once they are diagnosed with ureteral stones, they should go to the hospital for treatment in time.