Health Care Assistant (HCA) - Kelowna - 2024

Kidney stones (also called renal calculi, nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis) are hard deposits made of minerals and salts that form inside your kidneys.

Contributing causes to the development of kidney stones include diet, excess body weight, medical conditions, some forms of supplements and medications. 

Kidney stones usually will not cause symptoms until it moves around within the kidney or passes into one of the ureters. The ureters are the tubes that connect the kidneys and bladder.

Should the kidney stone become lodged in the ureters, it can obstruct the flow of urine and causing the patients kidney to swell and may also the patients ureter to spasm. 

Symptoms include:

• Discoloured urine - Pink, red or brown urine

• Cloudy or foul-smelling urine

• A persistent need to urinate, urinating more often than usual or urinating in small amounts

• Nausea and vomiting

• Fever and chills if an infection is present