Renal colic

Abstract

Renal colic describes the pain arising from urinary tract obstruction. Symptoms are caused by the distension and spasm of the ureter, the pelvicalyceal system, and the renal capsule. The symptom generated by renal colic is primarily a sudden, sharp, severe loin pain in the lower back over the kidney, radiating forward into the groin, testes, or labia majora. Renal colic can be related to a variety of underlying clinical scenarios (calculi, tumors, strictures, lymphadenopathy, or anatomical abnormalities) and can occur at any point in the urinary tract. In accordance, symptoms are affected by the underlying intrinsic or occasionally extrinsic etiology. The respective etiologic causes lead to acute or chronic urinary tract obstruction, as a result of complete or partial blockade of urine drainage.