Injury - kidney and ureter

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Kidney anatomy

Kidney - blood and urine flow

Analgesic nephropathy is one of the most common types of toxic damage to the kidney. Exposure to lead, cleaning products, solvents, fuels, or other nephrotoxic chemicals (those which can be toxic to the kidney) can damage kidneys.

Excessive buildup of body waste products, such as uric acid (that can occur with gout or with treatment of bone marrow, lymph node, or other disorders) can also damage the kidneys.

Inflammation (irritation with swelling and presence of extra immune cells) caused by immune responses to medications, infection, or other disorders may also injure the structures of the kidney, usually causing various types of glomerulonephritis or acute tubular necrosis (tissue death). Autoimmune disorders may also damage the kidneys.

Injury to the kidney may result in short-term damage with minimal or no symptoms. Alternately, it can be life-threatening because of bleeding and associated shock, or it may result in acute renal failure or chronic renal failure.

Ureteral injuries (injuries to the tubes which carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder) can also be caused by trauma (blunt or penetrating), complications from medical procedures, and other diseases in the retroperitoneum such as retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), retroperitoneal sarcomas, or metastatic lymph node positive cancers.

Medical therapies (such as OB/GYN surgeries, prior radiation or chemotherapy, and previous abdominopelvic surgeries) increase the risk for ureteral injuries.

Review Date: 06/13/2006
Reviewed By: Neil D. Sherman, MD, Urologist, Essex County, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.