Extended renal pelvis: causes, diagnosis and treatment

In modern medical practice, diseases of the genitourinary system are frequent. Among them, often such a pathology as an enlarged renal pelvis, which is accompanied by a difficult outflow of urine. The pelvis is the place where the urine is collected from the kidneys, following into the ureters. The disease affects children and adults. More often the pelvis of the kidney is dilated in a male child.

The disease can be one-sided or two-sided, when one or both pelvis is affected. By the degree of complexity, light, medium and heavy forms are isolated.

The reasons for the enlargement may be dynamic congenital, when the disease develops as a result of stenosis of the outer orifice of the urethra, expressed phimosis, organic narrowing of the urethra, and neurogenic bladder dysfunctions.

With dynamic acquired enlarged renal pelvis is formed due to hormonal changes, inflammatory kidney pathologies, infectious processes, urethral or prostate tumors, narrowing of the inflammatory or traumatic urethra, benign prostatic adenoma.

Organic congenital diseases include anomalies of the ureter, kidneys, and walls of the upper urinary tract.

Organic acquired occur with inflammation of the ureter and tissues surrounding it, tumors of the genitourinary system, kidney nephroptosis (omission), urolithiasis.

Most often, the enlarged renal pelvis proceeds asymptomatically. Anxiety brings signs of a major pathology that has caused the development of the disease. Infectious-inflammatory processes that develop with prolonged stagnation of urine in the pelvis also make themselves felt.

In most cases, pathology is detected during pregnancy or during the first year of life of the child. Some experts attribute this affliction to the inherent characteristics of the structure. Often an enlarged kidney of the kidney occurs during intensive growth, because at that time the arrangement of the organs varies with each other. At the older age, the enlargement occurs when the ureteral lumen overlaps with the stone.

First of all, the following points should be alarming. When ultrasound (ultrasound) is performed, the volume of the pelvis changes before and after the urination process. If the size of the body is 7 or more mm, and the change occurs within a year.

An enlarged renal pelvis can lead to complications: a decrease in kidney function, inflammation (pyelonephritis), atrophy of the kidney tissue (a decrease in size), sclerosis of the kidney, a condition accompanied by death of the urinary kidney tissue.

Extended renal pelvis: diagnosis and treatment

With a pelvis size of up to seven mm, control studies of the kidneys and bladder are performed, which are performed every 1-3 months. Ultrasound for children after the year is prescribed every six months. With the progression of the disease, urography and cystography are performed, X-ray methods of research using a contrast medium that is injected through the catheter into the bladder.

With urography, the contrast substance is administered intravenously. With the help of these studies, the true cause of the development of pelvic enlargement is established.
Treatment of an enlarged renal pelvis is primarily aimed at eliminating the cause that led to a violation of the outflow of urine. Congenital abnormalities are corrected by surgery. When narrowing the ureter, stenting is used, which involves the introduction of special skeletons into the narrowed sections. With extensions that are a consequence of urolithiasis, a method of removing stones is selected, which can consist of conservative or surgical treatment. Often use a variety of physiotherapy procedures. In some cases, prescribe treatment with herbs.
Particular attention is paid to the prevention of the development of inflammatory processes. Operative interventions are performed endoscopically using miniature instruments.