Obstructive Uropathy: From Etiopathology to Therapy

Abstract

Obstructive uropathy is an important clinical entity that both \t\t\turologists and nephrologist deal with. The aim of this study is to \t\t\tprovide the available data up to date concerning the \t\t\tetiopathophysiology and the possible \t\t\ttreatment options for this emergency situation. A literature search \t\t\twas performed for articles in English, published in journal indexed \t\t\tin Medline from 1970 to 2013, using as keywords: “obstructive \t\t\turopathy”, “acute renal failure”, “hydronephrosis”, “unilateral \t\t\trenal obstruction” and “bilateral renal obstruction”. Patients \t\t\tsuffering from obstructive uropathy may be unaware of their \t\t\tproblems, especially if the onset is gradual. Obstructive uropathy \t\t\tis responsible for a wide range of metabolic and electrolytic \t\t\tabnormalities that may lead to renal failure especially if the \t\t\tobstruction is bilateral and/or if there was a preexisting degree of \t\t\trenal failure. The timeframe from the occlusion of the collecting \t\t\tsystem to the development of renal impairment is shorter than we \t\t\tinitially thought. Hopefully, nowadays there are plenty of \t\t\tdiagnostic workouts to help urologists and nephrologists to diagnose \t\t\tand plan the treatment of obstructive uropathy. Obstructive uropathy needs high clinical suspicion and urgent diagnostic and therapeutic workout. World J Nephrol Urol. 2014;3(1):1-6 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/wjnu154w