Muhammad Akmal, Khizar Ishtiaque Khan, Shahid Rana.
Nephrectomy - An Overview.
Pak J Surg Jan ;28(2):102-5.

Objectives: To fi nd out the incidence of various benign conditions causing nonfunctioning kidney leading to nephrectomy Study Design: Descriptive study Sett ing and Duration: Armed Forces Institute of Urology (AFIU) Rawalpindi from Jan 2006 to Feb 2008 Methodology: All the patients who underwent nephrectomy during this period were included in this study. 189 patients underwent nephrectomy out of which 115 patients had nonfunctioning kidneys. Complete history was taken and all patients were thoroughly examined and investigated. Particular att ention was given to assess the functions of the contra lateral kidney. Post operatively patients were followed up in OPD with serial ultrasound examinations & renal function tests for the contralateral kidney. Results: Th e incidence of nonfunctional kidney was 60.84 %. Most of the patients with non functioning kidneys have calculus disease 61 (53.04%) or congenital hydronephrosis 20 (17.39%). Th e reason for high number of nonfunctional kidneys was that patients reported to the hospital very late. Some of these patients were asymptomatic as in congenital hydronephrosis and stag horn calculus and others ignored their symptoms and some had prolonged treatment from quacks as it is a common problem in remote areas without proper medical facilities. Conclusion: Most of the kidneys can be saved and nephrectomy avoided by early diagnosis & appropriate treatment of the benign conditions leading to nonfunctional kidney.

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