Treatment options · stones and surgery

Your stone and surgery options, side by side.

A plain comparison of the three procedures used for kidney stones that won’t pass, what happens at the Johns Creek surgery center, and the other procedures our urologists schedule there. One of our urologists makes the recommendation with you after reviewing your imaging and health.

Call 678-344-8900 Kidney stone basics

01 · Kidney stones

Three procedures compared

	Shock wave lithotripsy	Ureteroscopy + laser	PCNL
How it works	Focused sound energy from outside fractures the stone	Thin scope up through the bladder; laser breaks the stone, pieces can be removed	Small opening in the back to reach the kidney directly
Incision	None, and no scope	No skin incisions	A keyhole access point in the back
Usually a fit for	Kidney stones under 15 millimeters	Most stones, including large ones	Very large stones
Not a fit for	Very hard stones, some lower kidney stones, people on blood thinners	Our urologist will discuss your case	Most patients don’t need it
Where	Typically outpatient, in our surgery centers	Typically outpatient, in our surgery centers	Hospital, short stay
Afterward	Pieces pass over days to weeks	Temporary stent, removed in about a week; frequency and burning while it’s in	Hospital recovery

Every procedure and its anesthesia carry risks, including bleeding, infection and pieces left behind. Our team reviews yours before anything is scheduled. Afterward, blood work and a 24-hour urine collection can show why you form stones, so our urologists can build a plan to help prevent the next one.

Dr. McCullough’s full explanation

02 · Other procedures

What else our urologists schedule at the surgery center

Prostate biopsy

Our urologists perform transperineal MRI fusion biopsy under general anesthesia in our surgery centers, and you go home the same day. How the decision to biopsy is made.

Prostate cancer treatment

Robotic prostatectomy, brachytherapy and Vanquish focal therapy are among the options Dr. Neal Patel compares. Read the comparison.

Enlarged prostate procedures

When medication isn’t enough, options include UroLift, HoLEP and ThuLEP laser procedures, and prostate artery embolization performed by our interventional radiologists. BPH options.

Bladder control

For leakage and overactive bladder, our urologists perform slings, bladder Botox and InterStim sacral nerve stimulation. Bladder leakage.

A short introduction to one of the urologists who may walk these options with you

Dr. Nicholas Farber practices at the Johns Creek Clinic & Surgery Center. This short official introduction is here as background while you read about treatment paths; the choice that fits you still starts with a visit.

Watch: Get to know Dr. Nicholas Farber
What the video covers. This official Advanced Urology video is titled "Get to know Dr. Nicholas Farber." It introduces Dr. Nicholas Farber.

Questions we are often asked

Which treatments do you actually offer?

We offer the evaluations and procedures described on this site, including stone treatment, BPH procedures we name here, vasectomy, cancer surgery we perform, and clinic therapies for bladder and sexual health. If a treatment is not listed, ask us whether we provide it, rather than inferring that every urologic product is available here.

Will you decide on a procedure at the first visit?

Sometimes the next step is clear after the exam and tests we can complete that day. Just as often, we start a medicine, order imaging, or gather more history first. A procedure date is set when the reason for it is clear, not because a first visit needs to end with one.

Are treatments available at both Johns Creek and Cumming?

Clinic treatments and testing are available at both offices. Operating-room procedures for patients we see in Johns Creek and Cumming are performed at the Johns Creek Clinic & Surgery Center. If you are first seen in Cumming, the urologist who already knows you is the one who operates whenever that is how the plan was made.

Whenever a visit would help, the Johns Creek and Cumming teams are a phone call or a booked appointment away.

Call (678) 344-8900 Book online