Surgery and Pregnancy

I am 17 weeks pregnant and I have 10 kidney stones currently. My urologist wants to do a quick minor surgery and xray to remove the stones that could potentially block my kidneys. I haven't scheduled the surgery yet because I am so nervous. My doctor told me that there is a risk of miscarriage, but if I don't get it done I have a risk of possibly loosing a kidney. I know what I have to do, but I would like to know if there is anyone else that has had surgery during pregnancy. Do you know what the risks are of anesthesia to the unborn fetus? I would be getting my surgery at 20 weeks gestation. Please help me feel more secure about scheduling my procedure! Thankyou!

[cantwait4baby]

I never had to be put to sleep until I was pregnant.  The first was when I was just 4.5 weeks they assured me it would not hurt the baby (the anesthesia that is) the surgery was a laporoscopy.  No x-rays.  Then again at 9 weeks I had to be put to sleep when my heart went into A-Fib and would not correct itself.  They put me under and shocked my heart back to a normal rythem.  I am currently 27 weeks.  The m/c risk I would think may be in the x-ray.  That can be harmful to a fetus.  Or however they plan to do the surgery hopefully it is a laporoscopy like I had.  I had not choice either time, it is very scary.  Oh, and when you are trying to recover you get to do it with no pain meds.  I dont take them anyway but an Advil would have been nice :)

Good LUck to you.

[tina1111]

Yikes, that is scary! I've had stones but not when pg. None of the stones are small enough to pass? I imagine you are in a great deal of pain, too. How is he going to remove them? With orthoscope sp? If so, can't they use u/s to see the stones and retrieve rather than xray? Lasers broke mine up enough to pass, but I think lasers are dangerous too. Sorry I can't be of good help. Have you had urologist or nephrologist consult w/ob?

[alidon]

Hey Everyone!!
I am seeing a regular OB. My urologist says he has done this before and he comes highly recommended. He told me that he was going to get me on and off the table as fast as possible. They are going to go in and grab the stones, then pull them out. He needs the xray to know exactly where they are. I know that I have at least 2 stones that are around 9 milimeters, and the rest are around 5 milimeters. My urologist has said that if I do not get it done, I have a risk of blocking a kidney and it shutting down. I spoke with my OB and he said he would do another US the day after surgery to check on the baby, and any other time I wanted one to just call. I really hope that everything goes OK. I would hate to feel like I made a bad decision and something happened to the baby. Has anyone heard of someone having complications after anesthesia during pregnancy? Thankyou for all your feedback!!

[ImmortalOne]

I have to have surgery in my 16th week to remove an ovarian tumor.  Are you seeing a high risk OB or a general OB?  I requested my transfer to the high risk OB because of my complications and I wanted a doctor who had done this surgery before with success.

[cantwait4baby]

I had anesthesia twice in my life and they were both during this pregnancy.  That is safe as long as the anesthesologist takes all the proper precautions.  I know it took them a few meetings to decide how to put me under and even postponed my cardioversion a day when they could not agree on something.  I do not think it is the anesthesia you should worry about - it is the X-ray.  X-rays are known to cause some damage to a fetus.  They may try to just take it away from the fetus but being in your kidney I am not sure how they would do that.  My doctors gave me an ultrasound before and after both procedures I had done too.  After the 2nd procedure I started to bleed which scared them but turned out to be nothing.  I am now 27 weeks - I am sure everything will go fine with your procedure.  Just ask again about the X-ray.

Good Luck