JON MARKS, MD: In general, and this depends on the composition and the size of the stone, but if the stone is well fragmented such that the fragments are two and three millimeters, a little bit larger than grains of sand or the size of very small BBs, these stones will gradually pass out of the patient, sometimes within the first few days, but sometimes it will take up to three months for the fragments to pass.
PAUL MONIZ: We have some shots of what those broken up pieces look like. Maybe Dr. Salant can walk us through that. Now if someone had a fairly large stone, this is just a couple of fragments or three fragments that might come out. They may have a whole bunch of them, is that right?
ROBERT SALANT, MD: Yes. After the procedure is done patients will pass several stone fragments. Literally, it could be hundreds depending on how large the initial stone was and how small the fragments had been broken into.
In general, we usually have the patients strain the urine so when the stones do come out you're able to save the fragments which can then be analyzed to see what type of stone was in the body.
PAUL MONIZ: So they have this procedure. It's about 35 minutes. Then they start passing the stones. How painful is it to pass conceivably hundreds of stones?
ROBERT SALANT, MD: Stones cause pain only under two circumstances. One, if there is active infection, and two, if the stones are causing blockage to the urine flow. If the procedure is successful the stone fragments are small enough that they should pass without causing blockage and therefore without significant amounts of pain. There may be some discomfort, but in general after a successful procedure, there should be minimal if any pain.
PAUL MONIZ: Is there a lot of blood after the procedure in terms of the urine?
