Doctors at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology (AINU) in Chennai have successfully removed a 12 mm-sized stone from the left kidney of a one-year-old boy, through a minimally invasive procedure, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL).
Addressing the media on Wednesday, the doctors said the child, a native of Madurai, was brought in with the symptom of blood in the urine. Arun Kumar Balakrishnan, managing director and chief consultant urologist, AINU, Chennai, said that a CT scan showed the presence of a 12 mm-sized stone, which was sizeable for an infant.
Dr Balakrishnan said that while open surgery was not considered because of the child’s age, crushing the stone through a non-invasive procedure like shockwave lithotripsy was also ruled out, as there was a possibility that the crushed stones may not flow out through the urinary tract in a child, as they would in the case of an adult.
