Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

These are the more than 100 stones removed from the bladder of an elderly patient who was admitted to hospital with difficulty urinating.

Mr Li, 83, shocked his doctors when scans taken on 12th October showed his bladder filled with calculi of various sizes, Zhongda Hospital reported on 11th December.

Doctor Sun Chao recalled: “The patient knew he had bladder stones, but he didn’t take them seriously.

“Later on, he came to our hospital because he had trouble urinating.

“We took a closer look and found his bladder filled with stones. We counted more than 100 of them.

“I’ve been a urologist for more than 10 years. I’ve never seen so many.”

MRI scans of Mr Li’s bladder showed the organ filled with circular shadows.

Doctor Sun said the patient also suffered from prostate enlargement, which also caused trouble urinating and lead to a build-up of minerals in his bladder due to urine retention.

Due to the size and quantity of Mr Li’s bladder stones, the medic said their only option was immediate surgery.

The stones were pictured filling an entire surgical tray.

Zhongda Hospital, which is under Southeast University, said bladder stones are found in 150 to 200 people out of every 100,000.

Around 25 percent of cases require hospitalisation, the facility said.

Bladder stones can be prevented by sufficient fluid consumption, with citrus fruit juice such as orange juice thought to be particularly helpful in reducing stone formation.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.