Question

Hydronephrosis: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention

DrTharun Bk · Accepted Answer

When there is swelling of one or two kidneys in the body. Inside kidney urine gets collected due to blockage of tubes. Urine stores inside when urine tubes block due to anatomical defect or stones get stuck inside. This can cause infection inside the kidney. The filtered water from the kidney is stopped by it and this whole swelling of the kidney is called hydronephrosis.

At any age this swelling called hydronephrosis can happen. Hydronephrosis is diagnosed when a child is at infancy stage or by prenatal ultrasound done to the baby inside the womb.

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Usually hydronephrosis do not have any symptoms, however there could be some sign that might tell something about hydronephrosis:

1) there will be pain at the back or side of the lower abdomen. It may sometimes go to the groin and pain will be heavy.

2) there will be signs like burning while urinating, or there will be pain while urinating. There may be a want of urinating but urine passage will be in small amounts.

3) there will be nausea and vomiting whenever there is pain.

4) sometimes there will be fever, not severe but usually happens when there is constant pain.

5) infants thrive much more than adults which can be lacking when there is pain.

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Causes:

When blood is filtered by kidney urine, it passes from the kidney into a tube known as ureter. From this tube it goes to the bladder where storage of urine happens and then by muscle contraction it goes out of the body. Nevertheless when this urine is stopped from passing down it causes infection and swelling that is where hydronephrosis developed.

Some common causes of hydronephrosis include:

Partial blockage of kidney system: there are two places where blockage happens: 1) there may be blockage at the meeting of kidney and ureter. These types of blockage are more common.

2) there may be blockage at the meeting of the ureter and bladder. These blockages are less type.

Vesicoureteral reflux: usually urine goes one way from kidney to bladder through ureter but sometimes there is backflow of urine from bladder to ureter to kidney. This causes difficulty in passing the urine and the kidney swells and causes hydronephrosis.

Kidney stones in the ureter or in the kidney may block the passage of urine, sometime there is disturbance of the muscle which controls the want to urinate can cause urine to retain and kidney swells up.

Diagnosis:

When we visit a health care provider he/she advises us to go to a doctor who specializes in dealing with the condition of the kidney. These doctors are called urologist and they will do your further diagnosis: ;

There are many tests for diagnosing hydronephrosis. Which are:

A blood test will be taken to know the filtering function of the kidney.

A urine test will be done to know the health of urine whether it is infected or more uric acid is coming through urine or any stones are there.

An ultrasound imaging is done of the kidney and bladder as well as of other structures. By this many majors can be seen. ;

A specialized x-ray of all structures of the urinary system with special dye to see any problem in other areas of systemic problem is due to its structure.

When there is no surety of stones in the kidney or blockage of it by something other, doctors advise to go for ct scan or mri. They are best to see any type of stones in the kidney.

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Treatment:

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All though sometimes problems resolve with medicines but sometimes surgery is needed to eliminate the underlying cause. Hydronephrosis can be treated:

1) there are mild to moderate hydronephrosis: where doctors advise you to wait and see that it may resolve by its own or through medicines. Sometime doctors may give antibiotic medicine to reduce the infection caused to kidney in hydronephrosis

2) when there is severe hydronephrosis: it interferes with the function of the kidney. Doctors advised surgery to remove any blockage in the urinary system. Doctors also fix if there is reflux of urine back to the kidney and treat the severe infection. Kidney stones are removed surgically or with laser.

Many times hydronephrosis happens only to one kidney while other ones remain functionable. This hydronephrosis can if left untreated in severe condition it can cause permanent damage to the kidney that is kidney failure.

Prevention:

We should be careful not to take in any food and make sure of our diet. Some more points arelike:

We should not consume food with high salt in it.

Non-veg items like meat and chicken should be avoided or limited.

Seed items should also be checked.

High consumption of protein should be avoided.

Alcohol consumption should be avoided.

Citric fruits should be taken in the diet.

Have an exercise daily.

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Conclusion:

Hydronephrosis is caused by blockage in the urinary system. Stones are the major cause of it and infection may occur in the urinary system. We should have the right diet and exercise to avoid this. For any query please visit the doctor and if possible use medicines or else surgery to eliminate the blockage.

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