Surgeons in Sri Lanka remove 3.1‑kg bladder stone from 55‑year‑old man
The 17‑cm mass — likened to an ostrich egg — was removed at Trincomalee General Hospital and may be the largest bladder stone ever removed surgically.
Surgeons in Sri Lanka removed an unusually large bladder stone weighing 3.1 kilograms from a 55‑year‑old man, hospital officials said. The mass measured about 17 centimetres in length and was compared by the medical team to the size of an ostrich egg.
Operation and discovery
The operation took place last week at Trincomalee General Hospital on the country’s east coast. The patient had initially been admitted after suffering a stroke; during his treatment clinicians noted he had difficulty urinating and further tests revealed the presence of bladder calculi.
During the surgical procedure the medical team extracted a stone that weighed 3.1 kilograms — roughly the weight of a newborn — and measured around 17 centimetres. "Based on available data, this is the largest bladder stone ever documented and removed by surgery," said Sinhala Dr. Prahalahan Balakrishnan, who led the medical team.
Doctors reported that the patient is in "very good" condition but remains in hospital receiving care for other medical problems. The surgical team estimated the stone likely formed and remained in the bladder for between five and ten years.
Bladder stones form when minerals in urine crystallize and build up into hard deposits, particularly if the bladder does not empty completely. Small stones can sometimes pass spontaneously, but stones larger than one centimetre frequently obstruct urine flow and require medical intervention; stones over four centimetres are classed as giant.
Guinness World Records lists a previous surgical removal of a bladder stone from a patient in Brazil in 2003 that weighed 1.9 kilograms and measured 17.9 centimetres. The Trincomalee specimen is similar in length but substantially heavier at 3.1 kilograms.
Photo: Opshtata bolnica vo Trinkomali
