Have Small Right Kidney. Have Had Nausea And Tiredness Along With Kidney Area Pain. Related?

Posted on Thu, 10 Oct 2013

Question: I have a very small right kidney (apparently congenital). I have had extreme nausea and very tired last 2 months, along with kidney area pain (right side). Could the kidney be the cause? The doc said they could remove it and it MIGHT help.
Just an fyi, kidney is 4 cm long. I've had cat scans, ultrasounds, mri. They are trying to rule out gall bladder because I had pain their also.

Answered by Dr. Aditya Bhabhe (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
See detailed answer

Detailed Answer:
Hi there

Thanks for sending in your query.

A small kidney by itself should not be the cause of the symptoms which you are experiencing viz., pain, nausea and tiredness.

However if the kidney is obstructed due to any reason or it is infected then it could produce the above symptoms. If it was obstructed then this would have been easily picked up on the Ultrasound and the CAT Scan.

If the kidney is infected, this can be diagnosed by doing a urine R&m and a urine culture. The CAT scans can also pick up infections around the kidney.

If all the above tests are normal then I would be hesitant to blame the small kidney for your symptoms. Also removing it may not be the solution. However you should discuss this in detail with your doctor as he/she has had an opportunity to examine you.

I would also recommend checking the blood urea and creatinine levels and checking your blood pressure regularly, just to make sure that the left kidney is healthy.

I hope this was helpful
Feel free to contact me if you have more questions.
Regards
Aditya Bhabhe

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar