Doctors remove 3.1kg stone from man's bladder and claim record
The bladder stone, which weighs as much as a full-term baby, is believed to be the largest on record.
A Sri Lankan hospital has removed a bladder stone weighing 3.1kg from a 55-year-old patient, potentially setting a new record for the largest such stone ever removed through surgery. The procedure took place at a hospital in Trincomalee, in eastern Sri Lanka, last week. The patient, who had been admitted for a stroke, was discovered to have the massive stone during treatment.
Upon removing the stone, doctors noted its weight and size - equivalent to a full-term baby and comparable to an ostrich egg. Dr Pragalathan Balakrishnan, who led the surgery, confirmed it was the largest bladder stone ever documented and removed through surgery. The patient, currently in good health, remains at the hospital for ongoing treatment of other medical conditions.
Bladder stones form when minerals in urine crystallize and solidify, typically resulting from incomplete bladder emptying. While small stones may pass on their own, those over 1cm can obstruct urine flow, requiring medical intervention. Stones exceeding 4cm are considered giant. The Guinness World Records previously recorded a 1.9kg bladder stone removed from a Brazilian patient in 2003. The newly removed stone in Sri Lanka measured 18.7cm in length.
Written by urgent.news from BBC News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
