How to treat bladder stones?

Written by Zeng Zhong
Urology
Updated on May 01, 2025
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For the treatment of bladder stones, a treatment plan should be developed based on the specific size of the stones. For smaller stones with a diameter of less than 1.5 centimeters, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy can be used. After the treatment, patients should go home, drink plenty of water, and urinate frequently to help expel the stones from the bladder. For larger bladder stones, surgical treatment is required. Currently, surgeries are minimally invasive; there are no incisions on the abdomen. The procedure mainly involves inserting a ureteroscope through the urethra, then locating and breaking the stones using a holmium laser and flushing them out of the body.

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Postoperative diet for bladder stones

Patients with bladder stones, after surgery, are generally not allowed to eat on the day of the surgery due to anesthesia. Doctors will maintain the nutritional balance in the patient's body through intravenous fluid supplementation. On the second day after surgery, patients can consume liquid and easy-to-digest foods such as porridge and vegetables, and should avoid spicy and irritating foods. After three days, when the patient's bowel movements are regular, they can then resume a normal diet including rice, vegetables, fish, and meat.

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What should be paid attention to in the diet for bladder stones?

If the bladder stones are oxalate stones, to prevent their formation, one should avoid eating foods high in oxalates, such as spinach, mushrooms, potatoes, strong tea, coffee, chocolate, etc. If the stones are urate, one should reduce the intake of foods high in uric acid, such as animal offal and seafood. It is important to drink more water regularly to develop a good habit of hydration, as increased water intake can dilute the urine crystals, making it easier for stones to be expelled from the body. Thirdly, eat less high-fat food and avoid high-cholesterol foods, such as animal offal, abstain from smoking and drinking, and reduce meat consumption.

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How big must a bladder stone be to require surgery?

Bladder stones are a common type of urinary system calculus. Generally, stones with a diameter greater than 1.5 centimeters require surgical treatment. Currently, minimally invasive surgery is performed, which is transurethral ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy. This involves inserting a ureteroscope through the urethra into the bladder, locating the bladder stones under direct vision, and using a holmium laser fiber to fragment them, while simultaneously extracting the broken pieces.

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Can bladder stones be crushed?

Whether bladder stones can be treated with lithotripsy depends on their size. If the stone is relatively small, less than 1.5 cm, it can be treated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. For larger stones, the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is often not very good, and surgical treatment is required, generally for stones larger than 1.5 cm. Currently, the surgical approach involves a minimally invasive procedure using ureteroscopy with holmium laser lithotripsy, and the typical hospital stay is usually less than a week.

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Clinical manifestations of bladder stones

Generally speaking, a typical clinical manifestation of bladder stones is the sudden interruption of urination. That is, the patient may start to urinate normally, but then suddenly becomes unable to urinate midway through. Urination can resume once the patient changes position. Therefore, this sudden interruption of urination is a classic symptom of bladder stones. Of course, bladder stones can also cause other urinary tract irritation symptoms, such as frequent urination, urgency, pain during urination, and hematuria (blood in urine).