Correlation of Acute Flank Pain with Number of Pregnancies and
Hydronephrosis; An Observational Study
Abstract
Aim: We aimed to investigate the correlation of acute flank pain
incidence with number of pregnancies and hydronephrosis. Material and
method: Forty-eight patients admitted with acute flank pain have been
included in this study. Patients with urinary tract infection, abnormal
urinalysis, kidney or ureteric stone have been excluded. Twenty-four
were nulliparous and the remaining pregnancies were multiparous. All
patients had urinary ultrasound (US) by the same radiologist. Visual
analogue scale (VAS) was used. All the patients had conservative
management firstly. same radiologist. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was
used when patients admitted to the hospital. All the patients had
intravenous fluid therapy as conservative management, paracetamol as
analgesic treatment and oral nitrofurantoin as antibiotherapy. Patients
who did not benefit from conservative treatment had ureteral JJ stent
placement. Results: Nulliparous pregnant were younger and had earlier
gestational weeks (25.1±3.7 – 28.7±3.8 p=0.004 and 22,9±3.7 – 26.3±4.0
p=0.005), but higher VAS scores. In the nulliparous pregnant women, a
significant, medium level positive correlation was found between the
degree of hydronephrosis and the VAS scores. It was observed that the
higher the hydronephrosis, the higher the VAS scores were. On the other
hand, in multiparous pregnant women, no correlation was detected between
the degree of hydronephrosis and the VAS scores. In comparison of two
groups in relation to BM, hydronephrosis degree, hydronephrosis side,
serum creatinine levels, type and side of pain, no significant
difference was identified. Forty-two percent of patients described a
colic pain. While 91.7% of the patients benefitted from conservative
treatment, 4 patients had JJ stent insertion. Conclusion: This study
demonstrates that there is a correlation between acute flank pain and
hydronephrosis and that the degree of hydronephrosis increases as the
pain intensifies, especially in the nulliparous, such correlation is
stronger. Keywords: Pregnancy, hydronephrosis, acute flank pain,
nulliparous, multiparous