Kidney Stones Not Seen In Ultrasound. Most scientist agree on the fact that ultrasound simply is not sufficient enough to detect very small kidney stones. Urolithiasis refers to the presence of calculi anywhere along the course of the urinary tracts for the purpose of the article the terms urolithiasis nephrolithiasis and renal kidney stones are used interchangeably although some authors have slightly varying definitions of each.
Renal ultrasound and ureteral stones. Some kidney stones may not show on ultrasound if the stones are less than 3mm the ultrasound exam may not be able to detect in some cases cat scan. Spiral ct scan is the most reliable imaging tool for small kidney stones.
56 years experience family medicine.
Not all stones show up on scans it depends on what kind of stone they are what it is made of. But i must say kidney stones are usualy more of a 10 or 11 on a pain scale of 1 10 so if it is only a 5 or 6 for you i would think it wasn t a stone. Not all stones show up on scans it depends on what kind of stone they are what it is made of. A counter argument for using ultrasound in diagnosing of kidney stones is that ureteral stones are usually difficult to visualize with ultrasound and unless they are located at upj or in the distal ureter will not be seen with ultrasound.