Small stones that don’t seem to be creating issues are frequently left behind when kidney stones are surgically removed from patients

Leaving asymptomatic stones  behind raises the likelihood of a patient experiencing a relapse in the five years that follow

The findings of the research were published in the journal ‘New England Journal of Medicine’

Before this study, the clinical views were pretty mixed on whether some of these stones should be treated,” said lead author Dr Mathew Sorensen

He is a urologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine

Before this study, the clinical views were pretty mixed on whether some of these stones should be treated,” he said

The investigators studied 75 patients who were treated at multiple institutions over a span from 2015 to 2021

About half of the patients had only their large primary stone treated, while the others had primary and secondary stones removed

Some patients in the study visited the emergency department multiple times and then required surgery, the report noted