Unilateral palpable kidney

124 Unilateral palpable kidney

Instruction

Examine this patient’s abdomen.

Salient features

History

• Nephrectomy

• Congenital absence of kidney

• History of azotaemia, dialysis.

Examination

• One kidney is palpable (bimanually ballottable; there is a transverse band of colonic resonance on percussion and you will be able to insinuate your fingers between the mass and costal margin).

Proceed as follows:

• Look carefully for arteriovenous fistulae in the arms, haemodialysis catheters in the subclavian region.

Diagnosis

This patient has a unilateral palpable kidney (lesion), which may be caused by either polycystic kidney disease or renal neoplasm (aetiology).

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Tags: 250 Cases in Clinical Medicine

Dec 4, 2016 | Posted by admin in GENERAL & FAMILY MEDICINE | Comments Off

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