Sri Lankan surgeons remove 3.1-kilogram bladder stone in Trincomalee

Discovery and diagnosis in Trincomalee

Surgeons at a hospital in Trincomalee, located in eastern Sri Lanka, removed a 3.1-kilogram bladder stone from a 55-year-old patient. The paralyzed man was admitted to the hospital in July 2026 after suffering a stroke. While administering treatment for his neurological condition, attending physicians noticed that the patient experienced severe difficulty urinating and ordered abdominal evaluations. Diagnostic imaging revealed a large internal mass measuring between 14 and 19 centimetres in length occupying his urinary bladder. The surgical team operated during the second week of August 2026, successfully extracting the calcified object in one piece. The removed stone measured approximately 17 centimetres in length, weighed as much as a full-term newborn baby, and matched the physical volume of an ostrich egg.

Surgical procedure and patient condition

The complex extraction was led by Dr. Prahalahan Balakrishnan, who noted that the procedure represented an important milestone for Sri Lankan healthcare. Balakrishnan stated that the calcified mass had likely been developing inside the patient's urinary bladder for five to ten years without detection. Following the completion of the operation, the surgical team confirmed that the intervention succeeded without immediate surgical complications and that the patient remained in very good health. The 55-year-old patient remains admitted to the hospital in Trincomalee to receive ongoing therapy and rehabilitation for his stroke and secondary health conditions.

According to available records, it is the largest bladder stone ever documented and removed through surgery.

Global records and medical benchmarks

The 3.1-kilogram (6.8-pound) extraction in Trincomalee exceeds the longstanding global benchmark listed by Guinness World Records for the heaviest bladder stone documented in medical literature. That record was set in 2003 when surgeons in Brazil operated on a 62-year-old patient to remove a 1.9-kilogram (4.2-pound) calculus measuring 17.9 centimetres (7 inches) in length. It remains unconfirmed whether Guinness World Records representatives have formally begun verifying the measurements from the Trincomalee procedure. The case also follows another record urological extraction in Sri Lanka from June 2023, when military doctors operated on a 62-year-old former soldier to remove an 801-gram kidney stone. That grapefruit-sized mass was officially certified as the world's largest kidney stone.

Formation mechanics and clinical treatment

Bladder calculi develop when dissolved minerals in urine, including calcium and uric acid salts, crystallize and aggregate into hardened solid masses. This condition occurs most frequently when neurological conditions, paralysis, or anatomical obstructions prevent the urinary bladder from emptying completely. The resulting stagnant, concentrated urine allows microscopic crystals to bind together and expand continuously over multiple years if left untreated. While small calculi the size of sand grains can pass spontaneously through the urinary tract, deposits exceeding one centimetre in diameter frequently cause urinary retention, acute pain, burning sensations during urination, back discomfort, and recurrent infections. Medical standards classify any urinary calculus exceeding four centimetres across as a giant bladder stone, a condition that requires medical intervention through mechanical fragmentation or invasive surgical removal.