Role of Medication in Making Urine Less Acidic as Part of Kidney Stone Prevention

Diet and medications are the cornerstones of kidney stone prevention. Potassium citrate is a commonly prescribed medication to help prevent kidney stones by making urine less acidic. There are different forms of potassium citrate such as over-the-counter tablet or powder, and slow-release tablets that require a prescription. However, it is unknown if one form is better than the others. Therefore, we want to compare different forms of potassium citrate and find out how well they work and whether patients prefer one form over the others.

The study period will last approximately 6 weeks for each participant. Patients will be instructed to take one form of potassium citrate for one week at a time followed by a washout period for one week. This process will be completed a total of three times as we seek to study the effects of three forms of potassium citrate.

At the end of each trial week patients will be asked to provide urine samples and complete two surveys. Urine will need to be collected for 24 hours, which will then be examined to determine the effects that each form of potassium citrate has on urine. In addition, completed surveys will give us information on how well the medication was tolerated and their satisfaction with the treatment. There is a possibility that patients like one form better than others, and it is also possible that they do not see a difference at all.

Throughout the duration of the study patients will be asked to be a directed diet. This will be based on general recommendations by the National Kidney Foundation for the prevention of kidney stones.