Obstructive Hydronephrosis

Abstract

Ten patients with obstructive hydronephrosis were discovered among a group of approximately 150 patients with granulomatous (Crohn's) disease of the bowel (nine with regional enteritis and one with colitis). Symptoms of urinary-tract disease were notably absent as was laboratory evidence of urinary-tract infection. Hip and thigh pain, usually right sided, was the important clinical clue. Extrinsic compression of the ureter appeared to be caused by retroperitoneal extension of the severe intestinal inflammatory process. Seven of the nine patients treated by surgical bypass operations had prompt resolution of the hydronephrosis, but suffered a high rate of postoperative complications and clinical recurrence of the intestinal disease.