Urinary colic during low-back treatment: out of the frying pan into the fire?

The objective of this study was to present a possible discrete effect of heat therapy on the urinary system during physical therapy of a patient with lumbar discopathy.

This is a case report. Setting. This study was carried out in a a tertiary care university hospital.

A 33-year-old man with the diagnosis of lumbar discopathy undertook physical therapy including heat. On the third day of treatment, he had suffered colic low-back (flank) pain with quite a different nature from his initial painful complaints. In addition to conservative management of the renal stone, we continued heat therapy.

After 10 days of physical therapy, he was found to have improved both with regard to his low-back and urinary complaints.

The physicians should be aware of the effects of heat therapy on the urinary system when treating patients with musculoskeletal pathologies of the lumbar region.