Metropolitan Animal Specialty Hospital
MASH Center for Minimally-Invasive Urinary Stone Management
Offering experienced, advanced, comprehensive care for urinary stones without traditional surgery.
Drs. Bisignano and Kuntz offer these services seven days a week at the MASH Main Hospital at 6565 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90038.
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What does minimally-invasive stone management mean?
Minimally-invasive urinary stone management is a branch of endourology that involves specialized procedures for removing urinary stones non-surgically (through the natural orifice) or through very small surgical incisions. Because most urinary stones can reoccur, Dr. Bisignano and Dr. Kuntz will provide a comprehensive plan for medical management after the procedure to help reduce the risk of recurrence.
What are the advantages of minimally-invasive urinary stone treatment?”
Fortunately, almost all types of lower urinary stones can be treated with minimally-invasive techniques that offer significant advantages over traditional surgery. The immediate advantage is quicker recovery time; smaller incisions (or no incisions at all) mean less discomfort and faster healing. Another advantage is shorter hospitalization time. Many patients can go home the same day of treatment. Others are kept overnight for observation and can go home the following day. The longer-term advantage of these procedures includes a lower rate of post-treatment complications such as stone recurrence, infections, and problematic scar tissue formation.
Additionally, because a comprehensive follow-up plan including dietary and medical therapy will be initiated following treatment, the risk of stone recurrence and need for future procedures will be reduced.
What should I expect during an initial consultation and follow-ups with the endourology team?
During your first visit with us, your pet's condition will be evaluated and the options for treatment that are appropriate for your pet will be discussed. If your primary veterinarian has performed basic diagnostics including urinalyses, urine cultures, or x-rays please be sure to have these forwarded to our office. Some tests may need to be repeated for comparison, but this will be decided during the initial consultation. Determining the best procedure for stone removal requires an analysis of your pet's medical condition, breed, gender, size and any other concurrent medical conditions. at the end of this visit your pet will be scheduled for the recommended procedure.
At subsequent follow-up visits, we will recommend specific changes to diet and/or medications that can help reduce stone recurrence. We will also discuss a long-term plan for routine monitoring so that we can evaluate the effect of these modifications and help give your pet the best chances at remaining stone-free for life.
The MASH Minimally-Invasive Stone Center offers the following services:
Voiding urohydropulsion
Cystoscopic basket retrieval
Laser lithotripsy
Percutaneous cystolithotomy (PCCL)
Urethral stone retrieval
Medical dissolution management
Genetic and metabolic testing for inherited stone disorders
Prescription diet management for prevention of stones
Medical management for stone prevention
Diagnostic imaging for identification and localization of stones
