Laser lithotripsy is a surgical procedure

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 to remove stones from urinary tract

Urolithiasis

A bladder stone is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation found in the urinary bladder...

, i.e., kidney

Kidney

The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...

, ureter

Ureter

In human anatomy, the ureters are muscular tubes that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In the adult, the ureters are usually long and ~3-4 mm in diameter....

, bladder

Bladder

Bladder usually refers to an anatomical hollow organBladder may also refer to:-Biology:* Urinary bladder in humans** Urinary bladder ** Bladder control; see Urinary incontinence** Artificial urinary bladder, in humans...

, or urethra

Urethra

In anatomy, the urethra is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the genitals for the removal of fluids out of the body. In males, the urethra travels through the penis, and carries semen as well as urine...

.

History

Laser lithotripsy was invented at Wellman Center for Photomedicine in the 1980s to remove impacted stones from the urinary tract. Laser pulses delivered through a fiber optic are used to pulverize the stone, avoiding surgery. The technology was licensed to Candela Corporation, which produced the first commercial laser lithotripsy system.

Procedure

A urologist

Urology

Urology is the medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological...

 inserts a scope into the urinary tract to locate the stone. The type of the scope may be cystoscope

Cystoscopy

Cystoscopy is endoscopy of the urinary bladder via the urethra. It is carried out with a cystoscope.Diagnostic cystoscopy is usually carried out with local anaesthesia...

, ureteroscope, renoscope or nephroscope. A laser fiber is inserted through the working channel of the scope, and laser is directly emitted to the stone. The stone is disintegrated and the remaining pieces are washed out of the urinary tract

Urinary system

The urinary system is the organ system that produces, stores, and eliminates urine. In humans it includes two kidneys, two ureters, the bladder and the urethra.-Kidney:...

.

This procedure is done under either local

Local anesthesia

Local anesthesia is any technique to induce the absence of sensation in part of the body, generally for the aim of inducing local analgesia, that is, local insensitivity to pain, although other local senses may be affected as well. It allows patients to undergo surgical and dental procedures with...

 or general anesthesia and is considered minimally invasive surgery

Invasiveness of surgical procedures

There are three main categories which describe the invasiveness of surgical procedures. These are: non-invasive procedures, minimally invasive procedures, and invasive procedures ....

.

See also

• Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy
• Kidney stone
  Kidney stone
  A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...