Kidney stone specialists diagnose and treat kidney stones based on their size, location, and type. Small stones pass through the urinary tract without any treatment. The stone will be collected from the patient and sent for examination. The doctor will advise you to drink plenty of water or other fluids. Larger stones will block your urinary tract and would require urgent treatment.

A urologist will break the larger piece with the help of the following process:
-Shock wave lithotripsy
-Cystoscopy and ureteroscopy.
-Percutaneous nephrolithotomy.
-Open surgery

After the successful treatment or surgical operation, the doctor will insert a small tube-like structure called a ureteral stent. It will help urine to flow or allow passage for stones to pass.

A small stone does not require surgery and passes out through urine. The nephrologist (kidney stone doctor) advises the patient to drink plenty of fluids in such cases. But a larger stone wouldn't be able to pass through the urinary tract and require surgery. Stones with the size of 0.5 centimetres would require a surgical operation. The surgery is also done on patients that fail conservative management.

Yes, a stone that is 50 mm in size would need a surgical procedure. Any kidney stone larger than 4 mm can cause severe complications. The patient may experience a lot of pain and problems in passing urine. About 20 to 30% of people need surgery and treatment from a kidney stone specialist.

A recent innovation in medicine uses a patented laser treatment technology called Moses. This technology helps in the easy removal of kidney stones. Processes like this are safer and hasten the process of kidney stone removal.