What Should I Expect After A Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Procedure?

Lots of individuals in cities like St. Louis, Chesterfield, Florissant, Washington, Creve Couer, Kirkwood, and Chesterfield, Missouri have percutaneous nephrolithotomies each year. We have looked into some of the more frequent questions about recovery below.

Prevalent side effects include:

•   Nausea and occasional vomiting.
•   Pain frequently occurs for the first 24 to forty-eight hours in your kidneys, abdomen, lower back, and sides. Hurting might increase whenever you urinate. Take medicine as prescribed by doctors.

If you go home with a nephrostomy tube and drainage bag:

•   Bloody urine is typical. However, if the bleeding grows significantly, speak to your health care provider right away or return to the hospital for additional assessment.
•   Empty the drainage bag before it gets full. If the bag no longer drains urine and you experience back pain, call your doctor immediately. The tube may be clogged or loose.
•   You may see leakage of urine around the tube and might need to change the dressing.
•   It’s fine to shower with the bag. It may become damp. However, you should keep your incision site covered with a watertight dressing.
•   A few days after release from the hospital, you need to go to your doctor’s office for removal of the tube.

If you go back home with a ureteral stent, your health care provider will remove it in a follow-up appointment four to fourteen days following your procedure.

Should you go back home with a stent, typical side effects include:

•   Blood in the urine. Drinking fluids minimizes blood clots from forming within your urine.
•   A feeling of fullness and a continual need to urinate (urgency and frequency).
•   A burning sensation during urination or whenever you move around.
•   Bladder muscle spasms.

In a follow-up appointment, typically 4 to 14 days following the procedure, your physician takes out the stent. Patients are usually conscious whenever a stent is removed. Your physician may apply a local anesthetic jelly to the opening of your urinary tract (urethra) before the procedure. If it has a string affixed, the physician pulls on the string to take out the stent. Or, your doctor may use a little scope placed within your bladder to pull out the stent.

When should I call my physician?

Call if you:
•   Have a temperature greater than 100 degrees or chills
•   Realize that the pain medicine is not relieving your pain.
•   Can't tolerate food or fluids.
•   If you've got excessive blood within the urine, which is typically red, thick, and cannot see through it (like ketchup), or if you have blood clots within your urine which render it challenging to urinate, please get hold of your physician straight away.

A little blood in the urine is common after a PCNL procedure. Urine colors can vary from light pink to reddish and sometimes can even have a brownish hue – but you can for the most part see through it. Medications to help with the burning feel can occasionally turn the urine into an orange or blue color.

Metropolitan Urological Specialists in St. Louis, Florissant, and Washington, Missouri are ready and willing to answer your questions regarding percutaneous nephrolithotomy.