Medical professionals at Trincomalee General Hospital have successfully removed a bladder stone weighing 3.1kg (6.8lb) from a 55-year-old man, a mass believed to be the largest ever recorded.
The patient was originally admitted to the facility in eastern Sri Lanka for stroke treatment. During his care, doctors identified the stone after he experienced difficulty urinating. The extracted mass was approximately the size of an ostrich egg and comparable in weight to a full-term newborn.
Dr Prahalahan Balakrishnan, the lead surgeon, informed BBC Sinhala that the stone is the largest documented bladder stone ever removed through a surgical procedure. The specimen measured roughly 17cm in length.
This significantly exceeds the current Guinness World Record, established in Brazil in 2003, for a stone weighing 1.9kg with a length of 17.9cm.
According to Dr Balakrishnan, the stone likely developed over a period of five to ten years. Such stones are formed by the crystallisation of minerals in the urine, a process that frequently occurs when the bladder does not empty completely.
While stones the size of sand grains may pass naturally, medical intervention is typically required for those exceeding 1cm. Any bladder stone larger than 4cm is categorised as a “giant” stone.
The patient is reported to be in “very good health” following the surgery. He remains at Trincomalee General Hospital to continue treatment for his other medical conditions.
