Acute attacks of renal colic cause significant pain in the patient's lower back and abdomen, often leading to restlessness. In the early stages, there may also be symptoms of nausea, dizziness, weakness, and fever. However, the most dangerous aspect of kidney stones is the complications they can cause, with severe cases even leading to kidney failure.
1. Urinary obstruction
Kidney stones often get stuck at the junction of the renal pelvis and the ureter, causing urinary obstruction. The obstruction is usually partial, but if both ureters or the urethra are blocked, complete urinary obstruction may occur, leading to kidney failure. In severe cases, this can progress to uremia.
2. Infection
Infection is one of the most common complications of kidney stones. When kidney stones become infected, patients may experience high fever, chills, back pain, and weakness, among other symptoms. In some cases, patients may also exhibit pale complexion, cold limbs, profuse sweating, and low blood pressure, indicating shock. Additionally, if the patient's kidney stones are caused by hyperfunction of the parathyroid gland, they may also experience multiple fractures, skeletal deformities, corneal calcification, and peptic ulcers, among other symptoms.
3. Local injury
Stones often damage blood vessels, causing hematuria. Large and fixed stones can cause shedding of the renal pelvis and calyceal epithelial cells, leading to ulcers and fibrous tissue hyperplasia, which can eventually result in interstitial fibrosis. On the other hand, small stones have limited mobility and cause less local injury. However, if transitional epithelium is continuously stimulated by stones, squamous epithelial degeneration may occur, which can lead to squamous cell carcinoma years later.
Many diseases themselves are not frightening, but their complications can cause the greatest harm to the human body. It has been proven that no matter what disease is present, it is important to first identify the cause and actively treat it.
