Q: What are the right medications for treating kidney stones?

A:There are no medicines for treating a formed kidney stone. Instead, medicines are prescribed to prevent recurrent kidney stone formation and also to deal with the pain (analgesics). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines and opioid group of analgesics if used alone or in combination in a judicious manner are effective in managing the acute stone pain. The recommended medicine (for preventing stone formation) and the diet would depend upon the type of kidney stone formed. To determine this, one would need to undergo chemical analysis of the passed stone if possible. More importantly, one would need a 24 hours urine study to quantify different mineral salts, which helps in determining the tendency towards particular type of stone formation. Lastly, two important preventive interventions for a recurrent stone formation are: consumption of at least 1.5 litres of fluid daily, and being on low salt diet.