We frequently receive questions from patients trying to pass a stone who want to know whether they will be able to pass it successfully. There are three main factors that your doctor uses to predict your chances of successful stone passage. These include stone size, stone location, and what length of time you have been trying to pass the stone. We go over each factor in the infographic below.
References
Coll, Varanelli and Smith, “Relationship of Spontaneous Passage of Ureteral Calculi to Stone Size and Location as Revealed by Unenhanced Helical CT”. American Journal of Roentgenology, 2002.
Miller and Kane, “Time to Stone Passage for Observed Ureteral Calculi: A Guide for Patient Education”. Journal of Urology, 1999.
If a stone left in the ureter and does not posess any problems such as blood in urine, pain in side, that means its not moving which can lead to serius problems. It can be stuck in which if it is it will continue to grow and cause obstruction of the kidney or will rupture his ureter. He needs immediate doctors attention.
How did this turn out for your husband? I have a 3 mm stone still in my kidney and it causes some stabbing pain here and there. The urologist told me to wait another 3 weeks and if it has not come out then we’ll pursue more aggressive treatment.
My husband has a stone in the ureter seen on an X-ray and CT scan. He has no pain or any other symptoms. should something be done or leave it alone?