Kidney Stones Basics - Clinical symptoms, laboratory tests, and diagnostic x-ray studies may all be used to diagnose a kidney stone.

Find a
Nutritionist,
Dietician & more

Kidney Stones Kidney Stones Basics

Clinical symptoms, laboratory tests, and diagnostic x-ray studies may all be used to diagnose a kidney stone.

Hematuria (blood in the urine), flank pain, and a history of acute onset are particularly suggestive of a kidney stone. Analysis of a urine sample should be performed to look for the presence of blood or stone crystals. Many types of kidney stones can be seen on standard abdominal x-ray. In addition, a radiologic test is typically performed to confirm the presence of a stone and to rule out other conditions, especially if the patient has no previous history of stones. A number of radiologic tests have been used, but computed tomography (CT scan) is now the preferred test.

RELATED PROGRAMS
Article	-	What You Need to Know About Kidney Stones
Video	-	What are Kidney Stones? Transcript
Video	-	Which Kidney Stone Do You Have? Transcript
Article	-	A Rocky Road: Treating Kidney Stones

HealthVideo.com © 2008 NBC Digital Health Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy - Disclaimer - Editorial Policy
We subscribe to the HONcode principles. Verify here


News Archive [link] Web Wikipedia Medical Dictionary [link]