Sodium Bicarbonate as an Alternative to Potassium Citrate for Kidney Stones

Kidney stones affect 1 in every 11 people in the US each year. In patients with kidney stones who are prescribed medications for stone management, only 30.2% are adherent to a medication regime and even fewer, only 13.4 % are adherent with citrate medications. Prescription potassium citrate can be expensive for many patients, leading to non-compliance. Sodium bicarbonate is a potential medication alternative that is cheaper and can potentially alkalinize the urine and/or decrease the risk of future kidney stones. However, efficacy of alternatives to potassium potassium citrate are not well studied. This study seeks to evaluate sodium bicarbonate and assess its ability to alkalinize urine in a cohort of patients with kidney stones and compare this to prescription potassium citrate.

NCT Number	NCT07408076
Lead Sponsor	University of California, Los Angeles Collaborators: University of California, Davis, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Landspitali University Hospital, University of California, San Diego, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)
Conditions	Kidney Stones, Urolithiasis, Hypocitraturia, Nephrolithiasis
Enrollment	30 participants
Start Date	2026-02-01
Primary Completion	2026-08-01 (estimated)
Study Completion	2028-02-01 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-02-12