Renal Stone Extraction

Your physician has referred you to the Diagnostic Services Department at United Hospital Center for a Renal Stone Extraction.

Renal Stone Extraction is performed to retrieve and remove renal stones.

If you are currently not a patient in the hospital, you will be asked to report to the hospital registration department two (2) hours prior to your scheduled exam. After registration, you will be escorted to a hospital room where you will be prepared for the exam. An intravenous (IV) line may be inserted into a vein in your arm.

Upon arrival to the Diagnostic Services Department, you will be asked to sign a consent form. You will then be placed on a radiographic table. During the procedure anesthesia will be administered to relieve any pain you might experience.

The radiologist will begin the procedure by removing your nephrostomy catheter and inserting a catheter with a stone-basket through the skin into the kidney. The radiologist will then manipulate the catheter in an attempt to retrieve and remove the renal stones.

Once the procedure is complete, you will be taken to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) to be watched and evaluated.

Risks involved with this examination include: infection, reaction to contrast medium (x-ray dye), bleeding, and/or perforated ureter.

Your physician feels the benefits of this procedure outweigh the risks and would aid in the treatment of your medical condition.

Please DO NOT eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your scheduled exam. However, you may take your medications with small sips of water, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

LENGTH: Procedure time approximately 2 hours (total hospital time 4-6 hours)

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, tell your doctor and the technologist BEFORE your exam.