If the bladder is not completely emptied of urine, minerals may harden and form bladder stones in the bladder. Patients may not experience any symptoms of bladder stones if they are small enough to pass through the bladder during urination.
However, many bladder stones do cause symptoms. This is because the stones either irritate the wall of the bladder or block the flow of urine.
Symptoms of Bladder Stones
Typical symptoms of bladder stones include:
- Lower abdominal pain, which can often be severe
- Pain or difficulty when urinating
- Urinating more frequently (particularly at night)
- Blood in the urine
- Cloudy or dark-colored urine
- In men, pain in or around the penis
Bladder stones are most common in men aged 50 or older because of the increased risk of BPH, or benign prostate hyperplasia. However, both men and women can develop bladder stones. Children rarely develop bladder stones. In children, bladder stones can lead to bedwetting.
Causes
Bladder stones usually form when the individual is unable to completely empty their bladder of urine. A common cause of bladder stones in men is an enlarged prostate gland that blocks the flow of urine.
If urine remains in the bladder for a long time, chemicals in the urine form crystals and harden into bladder stones.
Risk Factors For Bladder Stones
The risk of bladder stones is increased due to the following factors:
- Being male and age 50 or older
- Being male and diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia
- Nerve damage, such as a spinal cord injury affecting the bladder
- Prior surgery enlarging the bladder (augmentation cystoplasty) and intestine
- Kidney stone that couldn’t pass out of the bladder
- Difficulty draining urine out of the bladder
- Bladder diverticula, a condition in which pouches or pockets in the bladder make it difficult to empty the bladder
- Fallen bladder in women (cystocele)
- Neurogenic bladder
- Medical devices, such as catheters, can cause crystals to form on them
Diagnosing Bladder Stones
Individuals experiencing symptoms of bladder stones may need to take the following tests:
- Urine test to check for small bladder stones, signs of a urinary tract infection, or blood
- Imaging tests, such as CT scans, X-ray, or ultrasound to see the size, shape, and location of the bladder stones
- Cystoscopy to look inside the bladder and check for stones
Treatment For Bladder Stones
In most cases, bladder stones need to be surgically removed from the bladder by a urologist. Very rarely, bladder stones can be dissolved over time. However, this depends on the type of stone.
Cystolitholapaxy is a procedure that uses a scope to visualize the stones in the bladder and then break them up into tiny pieces using lasers or ultrasound (high-frequency sound waves).
Patients with large bladder stones will need open surgery. During surgery, the physician will make an incision in the abdomen and remove the stones.