Children and Kidney Stones

Hey everyone.

I’m David Sas, a pediatric nephrologist from the Mayo Clinic

in Rochester, Minnesota.

I really enjoy taking care of children with kidney stones

and that’s kind of my specialty.

So can children get kidney stones? They sure can.

They don’t get ’em quite as frequently as adults do,

but the demographic with the most rapidly rising risk

for kidney stone formation is adolescent females.

Most commonly kids present with severe back pain

or side pain, but it can also be abdominal pain.

They often have nausea and vomiting

and sometimes have bloody urine,

what we call gross hematuria.

So the diagnosis of kidney stones is usually confirmed

with imaging, usually a CT scan or a kidney ultrasound.

And once the diagnosis of a kidney stone is, can confirmed,

every child should have a thorough evaluation from a doctor

who is an expert in kidney stone disease.

This evaluation includes blood work

and urine testing, especially a 24 hour urine collection.

This is the most important test we can perform

to identify an individual’s, um, highest risk factors

for stone formation.

And then for many children with stones, it is also important

to check genetic testing

to identify underlying genetic causes for kidney stones.

So an expert nephrologist

or urologist will evaluate all of the lab results

and determine what specific risk factors each child has,

and then develop a strategy

to prevent further stone formation based on these results.

This strategy will often include recommendations

for fluid intake, dietary changes,

and sometimes even include medications.

But this is the important part.

An expert evaluation is crucially important

for developing an individualized plan for each child.

There’s no one size fits all, uh, advice

for preventing kidney stones in children, except

that drinking more water

and eating less salt will reduce your risk

for stone formation no matter what type of, uh,

stones you form or what your underlying risk factors are.

So if you have a child with kidney stones,

seek out a stone expert

who will perform an appropriate evaluation

and get that child on the path to stone prevention.

That’s all I have. Thanks so much for your attention.

Have a great day.