Causes, signs and symptoms of floating kidneys
Nephroptosis
Overview
Nephroptosis is a condition in which one or both kidneys drop
into the abdomen when standing up. The kidneys are a set of two bean-shaped
organs responsible for filtering waste from the blood and producing urine in
the body. They’re located in the abdomen on either side of the spine, just
below the rib cage. Nephroptosis may also be called floating kidney, wandering
kidney, or renal ptosis.
The vast majority of people
with nephroptosis don’t experience any symptoms and don’t require any
treatment. People with severe cases might need a surgery called laparoscopic
nephropexy to fasten the kidney in its proper place. However, most cases of
nephroptosis are benign and don’t require medical care.
Symptoms
Most people with nephroptosis have no symptoms at all. In some
individuals, symptoms occur when standing and are often relieved when lying
down. These symptoms include:
·
a sharp side (flank)
pain that radiates into the groin
·
nausea
·
vomiting
·
high blood pressure
·
an abdominal mass when
standing upright
·
a weighing feeling in
the abdomen
·
hematuria
·
proteinuria (excessive
protein in the urine)
·
a history of
repeated
Roughly of cases of nephroptosis affect the right
kidney, 10 percent affect only the left kidney, and 20 percent affect both
kidneys.
What causes nephroptosis?
Nephroptosis is a congenital condition, which means you are born
with it. Like the other organs, the kidneys are relatively mobile. They can
shift normally a couple centimeters without problems. In nephroptosis, however,
the kidney or kidneys descend more than five centimeters when moving from a
lying-down position to standing up. The exact reason for this is not well understood.
It’s believed that the movement of the kidney is related to insufficient
support from certain structures or the connective tissue surrounding the
kidneys.
Nephroptosis is more common
in women than in men, particularly in women who are thin. It’s to
occur in up to 20 percent of women. However, since of
people with nephroptosis don’t have any symptoms, exact numbers aren’t known.
Treatment
Nephroptosis is considered a benign condition. Treatment is only
recommended in people with symptoms.
In the past, weight gain,
frequent lying down, abdominal corsets or bandages, and abdominal exercise were
recommended to help treat symptoms. Unfortunately, such conservative treatments
have shown little success in managing symptoms. They are no longer recommended.
Nephroptosis is now treated
with a surgical procedure known as laparoscopic nephropexy. It’s important to
carefully consider the risks of having surgery. In this procedure, the floating
kidney is secured in its normal position. Laparoscopic nephropexy is a
minimally invasive modern treatment. It’s done under general anesthesia. The
procedure generally takes 45 minutes and requires a hospital stay of two to
four days.
In the past, nephropexy was
a controversial procedure. It was often ineffective and carried a high risk of
death. These issues may have been caused by poor diagnosis and because it was
done as an open surgery. The procedure was so ineffective, that for some time
it was nearly completely abandoned by urologists.
The modern version of the
procedure is much safer because it’s done laparoscopically. This means the
procedure is performed through small incisions with the aid of a camera.
Advancements in diagnosis and surgical methodology have also made the surgery
much more effective.
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