1st Annual Conference of the Urolithiasis Section of USI was organised by the department of Urology,PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Renal stone disease is very common amongst people living in northern India . Stones may be in the ureter or in the kidneys. Ureteric stones need urgent attention otherwise it may damage the kidney. The treatment of stone depends on the size, composition,location etc. . Smaller stone can be fragmented by machine without surgery called extracorporeal lithotripter . however success rate is not good. Bigger stone needs surgical treatment. One technique called PCNL (Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy) is a minimally invasive surgery as it avoids big incision. A small hole is made in the kidney and stone is visualised by endoscope. The stone is fragmented by different energy sources including ultrasonic, mechanical and laser energy and removed by various means , told by Prof. Uttam Mete, Head department of Urology, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
The conference was inaugurated by Prof. S K Sharma, past president of USI, Ex-Director PGIMER and Ex-HOD Urology, PGIMER. He had stressed on prevention of stone by lifestyle changes and specific medications directed against metabolic abnormality if detected.
There is lot of improvement and innovations in technique and technology to treat renal stones. Different types of lasers like holmium , TFL etc have helped the surgeons to remove stones by small incision said Dr. S K Pal , the chairman of the urolithiasis section of USI. Guest of honour , Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni , current president of USI, told in his speech that Indian surgeons are dominating the world as far as renal stone treatment is concerned. Dr. Harprit Singh, secretary of this subsection mentioned that taking lot of water prevents stone formation. Live surgeries were demonstrated during the conference in addition to debate,focussed discussion etc.
In fact may be every third patient attending Urology OPD is having kidney stone problem and PGI, Chandigarh , has almost all recent technology for treating renal stone disease. Said Prof Uttam Mete, Head of the department of Urology.The conference is being attended by about 325 delegates from all over the country said Dr. G S Bora, the organising secretary for the conference.
