02 8382 6980 | Raji.Kooner@svha.org.au
St Vincent's Private Hospital | Mater Hospital, North Sydney | Bowral Office Staff Portal
Urology NSW
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Bladder Stones

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Bladder stones are often caused because the prostate is enlarged and causing a blockage to the flow.1

Traditionally they've been treated with either an open operation or with some form of crushing of the stone.2

The problem with crushing of the stone is that there's a lot of trauma given to, to the side wall of the bladder.3

I have been doing holmium laser vaporisations of these large stones and have done a lot of patients with very large stones where we put the laser in through the urethra and vaporise this large stone and turn it into dust.

And this is a remarkable difference for patients.4

They're out of hospital day 1 as opposed to a big recovery with an open operation.4

So holmium laser vaporisation of the prostate is a treatment that I believe should be offered to patients with bladder stones.

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Bladder Stones

Why bladder stones form

Bladder stones are commonly caused by an enlarged prostate obstructing the flow of urine1.

Traditional treatment options

Traditionally, bladder stones have been treated either with an open operation or with some form of mechanical crushing of the stone2. Mechanical crushing can cause significant trauma to the side wall of the bladder3.

Holmium laser vaporisation

Dr Kooner uses holmium laser vaporisation to treat bladder stones, including very large stones. The laser is passed through the urethra and vaporises the stone, effectively turning it into dust4.

For patients, the difference is substantial: most are out of hospital the day after the procedure, rather than facing the long recovery that follows open surgery4. Dr Kooner believes holmium laser vaporisation should be offered as a preferred treatment for patients with bladder stones.

Bladder Stone Patient Information Brochures

Bladder stone crushing (endoscopic litholapaxy) PDF Bladder washout for blood clots PDF
References
  1. NHS - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bladder-stones/causes/
  2. NHS - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bladder-stones/treatment/
  3. Isaac A. Deswanto, Ari Basukarno, Ponco Birowo, et al - Management of bladder stones: the move towards non-invasive treatment - https://doi.org/10.13181/mji.v26i2.1602 Med J Indones. 2017;26:128–33
  4. Jie Lv, Ning Wang, Yongsheng Zhu, et al - A meta-analysis and systematic review of holmium laser treatment of bladder stones - Transl Androl Urol. 2021 Aug; 10(8): 3465–3475. doi: 10.21037/tau-21-563