Non obstructing Kidney Stone pain.

March 10, 2016 6:09 AM

Been over a decade pain free. Urologist seems to believe that "non-obstructing stones don't cause pain." I have one study - but need more supporting evidence please!

Recently passed a 5mm stone - but have 4-5 other stones (5mm and less) in Left kidney.

Issue is that I'm still having pain 4 weeks after. The pain is nearly identical to before passing a stone.

I've found one study "Ureteroscopic treatment of patients with small, painful, non-obstructing renal
stones: the small stone syndrome" - but I'm hoping someone else can link/provide more information.

posted by filmgeek to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

I wish I had an answer for you, because it would be one for me too. I had a 3mm stone block my ureter in mid-January, had a kidney infection and a stent for 2 weeks, the insertion of which supposedly broke the stone so he couldn't get it when he took the stent out. Supposedly I may or may not have one more super tiny stone left, but sometimes it hurts like hell for no reason. I had never had kidney pain or stones before.

I see my urologist next Monday and will ask him. Though with the amount of pain meds he gave me after he took out the stent, I'm willing to guess that he believes that stones don't have to obstruct to cause pain.
posted by monopas at 9:30 AM on March 10, 2016

Yep, this is a thing.

it does appear that some non-obstructing kidney stones can cause pain because of either blockage of small tubular structures in the kidney itself (the collecting tubules) or for other unclear reasons. [...] Additionally, testimonials from many kidney stone patients (including a urologist with a personal history of kidney stones) suggest that some non-obstructing stones can cause pain.

You might have better luck talking with a nephrologist. It's really no big deal in some cases to just let the stones stay (I have dozens of them! Seriously, it's like an asteroid belt up in there) but if you're prone to pain or infections, you might be a candidate for getting them removed.
posted by mochapickle at 9:41 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

I had a stone removed, and months later had a flare up
of pain identical to when I had a stone. The same ramp up of flank pain, and nothing eased it. CT scan showed no
obstruction, and my urologist said that when you've been in pain for a long time, sometimes that becomes the new baseline (which is a nice way of saying "you're imagining it.")

Pain went away the next day. The mind's a powerful thing.
posted by zippy at 11:43 AM on March 10, 2016