20 litres of fluid removed from ‘gigantic’ kidney of West Godavari man

Hyderabad: Twenty litres of waste fluid or urine was removed from a 47-year-old man from West Godavari region in Andhra Pradesh by doctors at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology in Hyderabad. His “gigantic kidney” was removed after draining the fluid.

The patient suffered from frequent pains and gradually, there was a swelling in the abdomen. The swelling was for the last 10 years.

Neglected condition for 10 years

The swelling was minimal earlier but as time passed and there was no proper medical treatment, it increased over the years. A few months ago, the man started suffering pain in the left side of the abdomen region. After that, his condition deteriorated as the swelling increased.

The left kidney was 90 cm in diameter, leading to compression of other organs in the body.

Decline in intake of food

Due to the swelling, the patient was unable to eat. The pressure of the waste fluid in the kidney led to the dislocation of the intestines. Dr. Syed Mohd. Ghouse, senior consultant urologist, AINU who treated the case along with his team, said, “There were regular bouts of acute abdominal pain and progressive decline in intake of food. This led the patient to approach the hospital but it was very late. The left kidney had completely stopped functioning and due to pressure from the kidneys, the intestines were affected badly.

20 litres of waste fluid

The kidney was heavy and it required careful removal. First, the waste fluid had to be drained out. Doctors carried out the process of aspiration where a needle was used to drain out the fluid slowly. Only after that surgery was carried out to remove the kidney.

Dr. Ghouse said, “The procedures had to be carried out carefully as the intestines and other structures of the body were also affected. The kidney is located close to these organs and once the fluid was drained, we were able to work out the procedure of removal. Post-surgery recovery was better and the patient has now been discharged but has to follow up with us.”

Rare cases

These types of accumulation of waste in the kidney are rare. There are not many cases reported. The kidney is an organ whose non-functionality is diagnosed only at later stages. Doctors state that during the follow-up, they are going to monitor the condition of the patient for the right kidney and check if there is accumulation in any other part of the body.