Bay Ridge
Treatment options
Square-shaped or pear-shaped, these kidney stones are no friend!
“Many of my patients have described a kidney stone as one of the most painful things they have ever experienced,” said Dr. Frederick Gulmi, chief of urology at NYU Lutheran, who has some handy tips to alleviate the discomfort.
There are many treatment options available at NYU Lutheran, and the first thing that is important, according to Dr. Gulmi, is to determine the stone’s size, shape, and location within the urinary tract. Then doctors can make a treatment plan.
“Medication and noninvasive efforts to flush out the stone are the first course of action to consider,” he added.
If it doesn’t move on its own, other methods to treat the stone include extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy — yowza! There’s also ureteroscopy, which involves coursing the thinnest of scopes through the ureter to grab or pulverize the stone using a laser, and percutaneous nephrolithotripsy, a technique using a thin needle to gain access to larger kidney stones.
Over the course of his career Dr. Gulmi has seen the specialty of urology undergo monumental changes.
“The challenge of diagnosing and treating urologic diseases, including kidney stones, cancer of the urinary system, including bladder and prostate cancer, have benefited from advances in clinical research as well as in technological innovations,” he said. “At NYU Lutheran, we have the expertise and technology that can achieve the most optimal urologic surgical outcome for our patients.”
Here’s a Standing O from kidney stone sufferers everywhere thanks NYU Lutheran, and Dr. Gulmi!
NYU Lutheran Medical Arts Pavilion [8714 Fifth Ave. at 87th Street in Bay Ridge, (718) 630–8600].
