Acute renal colic: An imaging update

Renal colic is a common cause of severe acute abdominal pain in clinical practice. Classical symptoms include acute frank pain radiating to the groin, nausea and vomiting. There is often laboratory evidence of haematuria. Men are more often affected than women and the incidence increases with age. Acute renal colic is usually due to renal or ureteric stones. Most stones measuring 5mm or less in size will pass spontaneously. In the absence of fever and suspected pyonephrosis, patients are treated expectantly with analgesics and intravenous fluids. Advances in ureteroscopy and lithotripsy offer effective, minimally invasive options for those with larger stones that fail to pass spontaneously. Calculous disease tends to be recurrent and imaging evaluation is recommended at initial presentation. Imaging confirms the presence of stone, its size and location as well as the effect on renal function.