Ultrasound of Renal Tract

[MarthaP]

I got a letter from the hospital today saying I need to go for an ultrasound of the renal tract.

Has anyone else had this done? Do you know what it involves and why I need it done?

Thanks

[Zoi]

Hey Martha

Do you have a kidney stone that you know of? Flank pain? Blood in a urine test? A renal ultrasound can be done for so many different reasons! It's a basic test that allows docs to either exclude some stuff (like kidney stones causing blood in urine or flank pain) or to diagnose problems like kidney stones...Maybe you can ask your GP why he's sending you for an ultrasound?

I had one done last year and I can assure you it's not painful! Maybe a little bit unconfortable as you have to drink loads of water before the test and then somehow manage not to go to the bathroom until after the test... :eek:! That's the only way they can see your bladder with the ultrasound though, so... :hehe:

Here's a few links on abdominal ultrasounds that explain the procedure:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003777.htm

http://kidneydiseases.about.com/od/diagnostictests/a/Article0045.htm

Hope this helps a little bit,

Zoi

[Raglet]

yep, I've had one, it's just like a regular ultrasound - the cold gel, then they pass the wand over the area that they want to scan. Totally painless.

Mine was mostly normal except that it showed that I had a double set of arteries going to my kidneys

hth

raglet