Surgery

People rarely need open surgery to treat kidney stones. In most cases, other less invasive treatments are successful. You may need open surgery when the kidney stone is causing severe bleeding that cannot be controlled. In this case, the surgeon makes a cut in your side or stomach to reach the kidneys, and he or she removes the stone.

Another type of surgery, percutaneous nephrolithotomy or nephrolithotripsy, is also used. The surgeon puts a narrow telescope into your kidney through small cuts in your back. He or she then removes (lithotomy) or breaks up and removes (lithotripsy) the stone. This surgery may be used if other procedures do not work or if you have a very large stone. See a picture of nephrolithotomy.

In rare cases, a person forms kidney stones because the parathyroid glands produce too much of a hormone, which leads to higher calcium levels and possibly calcium-type kidney stones. To help prevent stones from coming back, your doctor may suggest surgery to remove a parathyroid gland or glands (parathyroidectomy).