Renal Artery Embolism as Differential Diagnosis of Nephrocolicae

Abstract

Renal artery embolism was described first in year 1940, but recently it is recognized as a clinically significant entity. It is a rare event, mostly seen in patients of 60 to 80 years old, with certain predisposing risk factors for tromboembolism, dominantly with underlying cardiovascular disease including atrial fibrillation, rheumatic heart disease, cardiac heart failure, arterial hypertension and general atherosclerosis. Renal artery embolism causes asymptomatic to sudden onset of nonspecific symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and nausea. There are few treatment options for renal artery embolism and some of them are early anticoagulation therapy and trombolytic therapy with streptokinase or tissue plasminogen activator preferably in early stage 90-180 minutes from onset. Medicamentous can be choice as a first line of treatment is more favourable than surgical therapy that is preferred in patients with solitary kidney or bilateral emboli.