Let's move on to the third part of this post about the professionals who treat kidney stones. In the first post, we saw that the urologist is the specialist who, in practice, treats kidney stones. And in the second, we saw that they cannot do this work without the support of other medical specialists such as the emergency doctor, nephrologist, radiologist, or anesthetist.
In this third and final post, we will talk about other healthcare professionals who are equally important for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of kidney stones, but each with a different role. They are the primary care physician, nurse, nutritionist, biochemist, and microbiologist. Keep reading to learn more!
The Primary Care Physician
The primary care physician (also general practitioner or family doctor) is the first level of care in our National Health System, and is responsible for resolving 90% of patient consultations. In Spain, these doctors are usually found in health centers, represent 42% of all doctors in our country, and attend to some 200 million consultations annually.
This is the doctor who is often responsible for following up with patients once their kidney stone has been removed. They are not only concerned with preventing future kidney stones by continuing the treatment initiated by the urologist or nephrologist, but also with the patient as a whole. Thus, if the patient, in addition to having had a kidney stone, has obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, the family doctor will help them lose weight, control blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol, and also prevent the formation of new stones. They are the patient's trusted professional.
The Nurse
A nurse is a healthcare professional who attends to and cares for the sick, and assists doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Nurses also have specialties, and in Spain, it is possible to find nurses specialized in medical-surgical care, who assist surgical doctors and anesthetists in the operating room before and during a surgical intervention. Nurses who work assisting urology services are usually called urological nurses and are part of the Spanish Association of Urological Nursing (www.enfuro.es).
In the case of kidney stones, urological nurses play an important role during the intervention, assisting the urologist and anesthetist. Among other things, they are responsible for preparing the operating room, preparing all monitoring equipment, preparing all surgical instruments, preparing the patient, and handing instruments to the urologist when needed to perform the surgery.
Once the patient is on the hospital ward recovering from the intervention, the nurse is also responsible for their care until they are discharged.
The Clinical Nutritionist
A clinical nutritionist is a healthcare professional who is an expert in nutrition. They are responsible for diagnosing the patient's nutritional deficiencies based on their illness, as well as prescribing nutritional treatment.
Kidney stones are a metabolic disease that is closely associated with diet and lifestyle. Therefore, if certain dietary habits are corrected with the help of a clinical nutritionist specializing in kidney stones, the risk of forming new kidney stones can be greatly reduced.
The functions of the nutritionist are to identify the patient's dietary habits (e.g., their deficiencies, excesses, intolerances, and nutritional allergies), develop eating plans adapted to the needs of each patient and the type of kidney stone they are forming, and educate on the importance of nutrition in the prevention of kidney stones.
If you want to prevent new kidney stones, seriously consider hiring a clinical nutritionist. It will change your life. And if you don't know anyone who is an expert in kidney stones, don't hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to recommend the best.
The Clinical Biochemist
A clinical biochemist is a healthcare professional who uses different methods in the laboratory to analyze patient samples that allow for the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of diseases.
In the case of kidney stones, clinical biochemists are responsible for analyzing 24-hour urine and blood samples requested by urologists to determine the patient's metabolic disorder and the cause of their kidney stone formation. Knowing the cause, urologists can then prescribe specific treatment.
Urine and blood analysis is known as metabolic analysis. And despite the fact that it has been shown to be very useful for diagnosing, treating, and preventing kidney stones, and that it is recommended by the Clinical Guidelines for Urolithiasis of the European Association of Urology, very few urologists still request it. Always remember to ask your urologist to request a metabolic analysis from the laboratory. If they say it is not necessary, insist. And if you have trouble interpreting the results, don't hesitate to contact us.
The clinical biochemist sometimes also performs other more detailed analyses at the request of the urologist; such as crystal analysis in urine (crystalluria) or stone composition analysis. Both analyses are important, especially stone composition. Again, if you have a kidney stone that you have passed spontaneously or that has been surgically removed, be sure to ask your urologist to send it to the laboratory for analysis to study its composition.
The Clinical Microbiologist
A clinical microbiologist is a healthcare professional who studies and analyzes the patient's microorganisms (microbes) and their relationship with the disease they suffer from. They usually focus on infectious diseases such as those caused by viruses (COVID-19), bacteria (E. coli) or fungi (Candidiasis).
In the case of kidney stones, clinical microbiologists have not played a very important role until now. But recent discoveries of the intestinal and urinary microbiota, and their impact on kidney stone formation, lead us to believe that microbiologists will increasingly have more weight in diagnosing, treating, and preventing kidney stones.
For example, today we know that the presence of certain bacteria (O. formigenes) in the intestine can help degrade oxalate, reducing its intestinal absorption and therefore its urinary excretion. If we increase the presence of these bacteria, it is possible that we can reduce the risk of forming calcium oxalate stones. It is still a new field, but having an analysis of our intestinal and urinary microbiota could tell us a lot about the cause of our kidney stone formation.
In conclusion
As we have seen, in addition to the urologist, there are other healthcare professionals who play an important role in the treatment of kidney stones. In the previous post, we learned about the emergency doctor, nephrologist, radiologist, and anesthetist. And in this one, we have learned the importance of the family doctor, nurse, nutritionist, biochemist, and microbiologist.
Treating your kidney stones is not an easy task! It requires multidisciplinary work and the participation of many professionals. That is why it is so difficult to prevent kidney stones. If you really want to prevent them, make sure you understand what each professional is responsible for and ask your urologist to refer you to each of them so that together you can achieve it.
Remember that you are the most important member of the team. And that all prevention starts with you. Educate yourself, learn, and then make sure you follow the recommendations of healthcare professionals. And of course, if you need it, do not hesitate to contact us.
