ABC of Urology: UROLOGICAL EMERGENCIES IN GENERAL PRACTICE

Renal colic

Although some stones remain asymptomatic, most will give rise to pain at some time. However, despite their size, staghorn calculi are often painless because of their inability to move within the renal collecting system.

The symptoms resulting from renal and ureteric stones can be predicted from a knowledge of the likely site of obstruction. Renal colic usually starts abruptly with flank pain, which then radiates around the abdomen as the stone progresses down the ureter. Typically pain is felt in the testes in male patients and the labia majora in female patients.

In male patients the external genitalia and testes must be examined so that testicular torsion can be excluded, and a rectal examination may be necessary to rule out other diagnoses.

The investigation of a patient with suspected renal colic should begin with routine urine analysis. Some patients have frank haematuria, but the rest have microscopic haematuria. If the results of urine analysis are normal then an alternative diagnosis should be considered.

Patients suspected of having a stone should have intravenous urography unless they have a history of allergy to contrast media or are pregnant (renal ultrasonography is useful in these circumstances to show caliceal dilatation on the affected side).

Initial management is directed towards controlling the …