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May 10, 2006 9:58 pm US/Central
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Doctor Has New Method To Break Up Kidney Stones
by Dennis Douda
(WCCO)
A local doctor has new method of helping people plagued by painful kidney stones.
Ten percent of people suffer from kidney stones at least once. For many of them, they're experience it several times. There are ways to treat people who have the stones, but a person must first learn they're prone to them.
Airline pilot Patrick Evans isn't allowed to board an airliner if he has a kidney stone.
That's a problem he needs to worry about -- he knows he's plagued by them.
"The FAA will not reissue a medical certificate to me if I have stones that can be passed," Evans said.
Evans had earlier stone removal procedures fail. He's not alone.
Dr. Andrew Portis of HealthEast Kidney Stone Institute said one-third of all procedures leave behind kidney stones large enough to cause future problems.
Some doctors are using sound waves to blast the stones apart. A recent Mayo Clinic study linked that procedure to a 4-fold increase in diabetes.
But Portis has developed a refined approach, which he calls "the St. Paul method." It starts with a crisp CAT scan and a plan of attack.
Portis then uses a catheter-tipped camera and a small grabbing tool to move the stones to the top end of the kidney. Once clustered together he can blast them into smaller pieces with a laser and pull out the fragments.
"That way when I come into the operating room, I'm all ready to go. I don't have to waste time deciding, and I know my objective is to have a clean CT scan when we're done," Portis said.
After Dr. Portis presents results of his study, he thinks doctors everywhere will adopt it.
Who doesn't want a far more effective procedure that costs one-third as much?
Portis said his approach has a 95 percent success rate with a single treatment … and quicker recovery time. He also hopes it offers sufferers a new peace of mind.
"They hurt like hell. They come back. And nobody seems to take the patient seriously," he said.
Portis' study is published in this week's issue of the journal Urology.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)