Renal pelvis spontaneous rupture secondary to ureteral lithiasis. Case report and bibliographic review

To report a case seen at the Urology Department and comment on the literature.

We present the case of 46 year-old male who presented left flank pain. Intravenous pyelography was performed. The study showed evidence of contrast extravasation at the level of the left renal pelvis and a 7 mm stone located on the left ureterovesical junction. A literature search was performed using Promedicum, Pub Med and Ovid. The search words were: rupture, renal pelvis, lithiasis and spontaneous combined by boolean operators.

The management was successful using endourology procedures and a double pigtail catheter for a two week period.

Spontaneous rupture of the renal pelvis (SRRP) is an infrequent pathological event. Most of the cases are related to obstructive uropathy, infection and diagnostic procedures. Intravenous pyelography is a useful tool although intravenous contrast CT scan has higher sensibility. The treatment depends on patient state but most cases can be managed with minimally invasive procedures and double pigtail catheter placement.