MITERA Children’s Hospital: New Method for Treating Kidney Stones in Children

MITERA Children’s Hospital:
New Method for Treating Kidney Stones in Children

MITERA Children’s Hospital has implemented a new method for treating kidney stones in children. The method was awarded the 1st prize at the 22nd Panhellenic Urological Congress, which was hosted in Irakleio, Crete. The technique involves Endoscopic Combined Intrarenal Surgery (ECIRS), which is suitable for removing kidney stones in underage patients.
The procedure was performed under general anesthesia on an 8-year-old patient who was suffering from a rare disease that caused the creation of stones in his urinary tract. The medical team included Mr Sotirios Bogris, Child/Adolescent Urological Surgeon & Scientific Associate at MITERA Children’s Hospital; Mr Nikoloas Bafaloukas, Urologist specializing in endoscopic techniques; and Ms Sofia Boutsi, Anesthesiologist.
A small camera was initially inserted into the patient through the urethra, which reached the kidney and located the stone. Percutaneous renal access was then performed through the patient’s back. This double renal access resulted in the stone being completely destroyed and successfully removed.
As Mr Bogris noted, “This method successfully pinpoints the exact location of the stone, which it then completely destroys with the use of a special laser. Its greatest advantage is that it can be repeated, given that recurrence, i.e. creation of new stones, is common in young patients. The patient was discharged three full days after the procedure and had an excellent postoperative course. The whole procedure was performed without the need for a blood transfusion, while the patient started to move on the second postoperative day. This demonstrates the advantages of this technique – which involves combining endoscopic and percutaneous surgery – over an open surgery.”
On his part, Mr Bafaloukas stated, “The patient’s health condition would have become worse had the stone remained in place, since it was growing continuously, which carried the risk of affecting his kidney function and possibly his health due to continuous urinary tract infections. Due to his young age, he was treated with a minimally invasive, bloodless procedure, ensuring the shortest possible hospitalization.”
Since then, another two young patients have been successfully treated at MITERA Children’s Hospital using the ECIRS technique for kidney stone removal.