For months, his life revolved around a small bag packed with emergency painkillers, pills, and injections. Whether he was attending high-stakes business meetings in Delhi or celebrating at family weddings, the constant fear of a sudden, blinding renal colic attack was always lurking in the back of his mind.
Whenever a severe attack struck, he would rush to a local clinic for immediate pain-relieving injections. The relief was temporary, but the pattern was exhausting. Pain would strike unexpectedly in the middle of the night, during work hours, or while trying to enjoy a meal with friends. Eventually, he realized that constantly numbing the pain with clinic injections was only masking a growing medical problem. He needed a permanent, definitive solution to get his life back.
A Dual Diagnosis: Stones in Both Kidneys
Determined to stop relying on temporary fixes, he visited Urocentre for a comprehensive urological evaluation. Diagnostic scans revealed why his pain had been so intense and persistent: he was dealing with significant stone disease affecting both kidneys.
- Left Kidney: Contained multiple medium-sized stones ranging up to 16 mm to 19.5 mm.
- Right Kidney: Housed a large, complex staghorn stone measuring 20 mm and larger.
Faced with complex stone disease across both sides, the medical team at Urocentre designed a strategic, two-stage surgical plan tailored to the distinct anatomical needs of each kidney. To minimize physical strain while ensuring complete stone clearance, the team scheduled back-to-back procedures spaced just one to two weeks apart: RIRS (Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery) for the left kidney, followed by PCNL (Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy) for the larger stone on the right.
Operation 1: Left Kidney RIRS – Surgery on Friday, Back to Work on Monday
For the left side containing multiple medium stones, the surgical team performed RIRS—a completely incisionless, flexible laser procedure navigated upward through the natural urinary tract.
The patient’s experience with RIRS was defined by speed and comfort. Because the procedure required no external skin cuts or keyholes, the post-operative recovery was remarkably swift.
“The RIRS procedure was so smooth,” he recalls. “There were no cuts or incisions on my body, and I felt virtually no pain afterward. I had the surgery done on Friday, rested through Saturday and Sunday, and by Monday morning, I walked right back into my office and resumed my normal work routine. For anyone with a busy job who cannot afford long leave, RIRS is an incredible option.”
Operation 2: Right Kidney PCNL – One-Shot Clearance for Large Staghorn Stones
One week after his RIRS procedure, he returned to Urocentre for the second stage: tackling the massive 20 mm staghorn stone in his right kidney using PCNL.
While RIRS uses flexible scopes through natural pathways, PCNL involves creating a small keyhole access point through the back directly into the kidney. This allows surgeons to rapidly break down massive stones and extract the fragments directly from the organ.
Having experienced both procedures back-to-back within two weeks, the patient gained a rare, firsthand perspective on how the two techniques compare:
“With PCNL, because there is a small keyhole entry, you definitely need a few days of proper rest to recover,” he explains. “You might feel a bit sluggish or dizzy if you try to jump up too quickly. But the huge advantage of PCNL is power and complete clearance. No matter how large or complex the stone is—even 20 or 30 mm—the surgical team can break it down and pull every piece out in a single procedure. You wake up knowing the stone is 100% gone.”
A Patient’s Final Verdict: RIRS vs. PCNL
Having undergone both modern stone surgeries back-to-back at Urocentre, the patient shares a clear message for others facing kidney stone treatment decisions:
- Choose RIRS if your stones are smaller or medium-sized (under 2 cm) and your priority is zero surgical cuts, minimal downtime, and returning to work within two days./
- Choose PCNL if you are dealing with large, complex, or staghorn stones (over 2 cm), where one-shot total removal through a tiny keyhole is worth taking a few extra days of rest.
Today, the bag of emergency painkillers and injections is gone for good. “I used to carry so many medicines that I was handing them out to colleagues at work,” he reflects with a smile. “Getting treated at Urocentre gave me complete freedom. I can attend meetings, go to family functions, and live my life without fearing 2 AM pain attacks.”