Kidney stone
A stone in the kidney or a stone that originates in the kidney but has passed lower down in the urinary tract. Kidney stones are a common cause of blood in the urine and pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin. The development of kidney stones is related to decreased urine volume or to increased excretion of stone-forming components, such as calcium, oxalate, urate, cystine, xanthine, and phosphate. The stones form in the urine-collecting area (pelvis) of the kidney and may range in size from tiny to ‘staghorn’ stones the size of the renal pelvis itself. Factors that predispose people to kidney stones include reduction in fluid intake, increased exercise with dehydration, medications that cause high uric acid (hyperuricemia), and a history of gout. Pain from kidney stones is usually of sudden onset, very severe and intermittent, and not improved by changes in position, and it radiates from the back, down the flank, and into the groin. Nausea and vomiting are common. The majority of stones pass spontaneously within 48 hours. However, some stones do not. Several factors influence the ability to pass a stone, including the size of the person, prior stone passage, prostate enlargement, pregnancy, and the size of the stone. If a stone does not pass, the help of a urology specialist may be needed. Routine treatment includes relief of pain, hydration, and, if there is concurrent urinary infection, administration of antibiotics. Also known as nephrolithiasis.
Read Also:
- Kidney stones, cystine
Cystine kidney stones are due to cystinuria, an inherited (genetic) disorder of the transport of an amino acid (a building block of protein) called cystine. The result is an excess of cystine in the urine (cystinuria) and the formation of cystine stones. Cystinuria is the most common defect in the transport of an amino acid. […]
- Kidney transplant
A surgical procedure using a donor kidney to treat kidney failure. Transplantation is a preferred treatment over dialysis because of its improved outcomes. The principal problems in kidney transplantation are immunologic, i.e. avoiding rejection of the transplanted kidney by the recipient’s immune system. The first kidney transplant was done in Boston by surgeon Joseph E. […]
- Kikuchi disease
A disorder that typically causes “swollen glands” in the neck (cervical lymphadenopathy) together with fever or flu-like symptoms. Laboratory test abnormalities include elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood count abnormalities (low neutrophil count and elevated lymphocyte count with atypical lymphocytes in the peripheral blood). Kikuchi disease is fairly common in young people, predominantly […]
- Kilobase
A unit of length of DNA that is equal to 1,000 nucleotide bases. Abbreviated Kb.
- Kilocalorie
The term used to represent the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a liter of water one degree centigrade at sea level. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.) […]