nephrostomy
Meaning of nephrostomy: Pressure rather than pain is the danger, since urine that cannot escape backs up and injures the kidney quickly.
Definition of nephrostomy
A nephrostomy is a small opening made through the skin of the back into the kidney, specifically into the renal pelvis, the funnel that collects urine before it drains toward the bladder. A thin tube passed through that opening lets urine leave the body directly, bypassing whatever is blocking its usual route.
How nephrostomy is built
- nephr/o, ren/o Combining form · Greek and Latin kidney
- -ostomy Suffix · Greek surgically created lasting opening
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Why would urine need another way out?
The ureter is a narrow tube, and anything that squeezes or plugs it stops urine leaving the kidney. A stone lodged partway down is the classic cause. A tumor of the cervix, prostate, bladder or bowel can press on the ureter from outside, and scarring after surgery or radiation can narrow it. Urine keeps arriving regardless, so pressure rises inside the collecting system and is transmitted back into the working tissue of the kidney. That pressure alone damages the kidney over days, and if the trapped urine becomes infected the situation turns urgent, because an infected obstructed system does not clear with antibiotics alone while the blockage remains.
How does it compare with a stent?
| Nephrostomy | Ureteral stent | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | Through the skin of the back, guided by imaging | Up through the bladder using a scope |
| Where urine goes | Outside, into a drainage bag | Down the ureter as usual, past the blockage |
| Visible | Tube and bag are external | Entirely internal |
| When preferred | Severe infection, a stent that cannot be passed, need for access later | Blockage that a stent can cross, and no external tube wanted |
Both relieve the obstruction rather than cure it, so each is usually a bridge to whatever deals with the underlying cause.
What else can the access be used for?
Once a track exists between skin and kidney, it can be widened and reused. A scope can be passed along it to look inside the collecting system, and stones too large to pass can be broken up and removed through the same channel. Contrast can be injected to map the drainage system from above when a scan from below is inconclusive. A stent can be threaded downward through the track when the usual upward approach has failed. The catheter itself is stitched or held with a retention loop, and it is exchanged periodically because tubes silt up over time.
Used in a sentence
A nephrostomy tube was placed to relieve the obstruction affecting the patient's kidney.
Good to know
A nephrostomy diverts urine around an obstruction rather than removing its cause, so it usually serves as a temporary measure until the underlying blockage is addressed.
Word origin
Where “nephrostomy” comes from
Formed from nephro-, from Greek nephros, meaning kidney, and -stomy, from stoma, meaning mouth or opening.