Will Large Kidney Cysts Cause Upper Abdominal Pain

Kidney cyst is a common cystic disorder formed in the kidneys. It is a chronically progressive disease and the cysts will continue to become larger and larger though the growth rate is slow.

Cyst size varies a lot from a few millimeters to several centimeters. Most cysts cause no symptoms or discomforts when it is small in size. However as the cysts become large or the cysts experience rapid growth under some inducements, there will be a series of symptoms and signs.

Usually large kidney cysts (more than 4cm or even more than 10cm in some cases) will cause palpable masses and pain in upper abdomen. What is more severe, the larger the cyst is, the more risk it has to get infection and rupture due to oppression and high blood pressure.

Besides abdominal pain, the pain may also occur in back and sides. In case of abdominal pain or back pain, related tests should be first done before receiving treatments to make clear what cause the abdominal pain because there are several conditions in kidney cysts that can cause upper abdominal pain.

The most common condition is due to the oppression and stretching of surrounding renal tissues and other organs because large cysts occupy too much space. The most common type is renal cortical cysts, however if the cyst is located in renal medullary area or in case of renal parapelvic cysts, too large cyst might cause obstruction in the kidney or ureter and this will cause abdominal pain.

In some cases or if the patients do not take good care in daily life, the cysts might get infection or even rupture which is a relatively severe illness condition and it will cause blood in urine, fever, chill, etc besides abdominal pain.

For large cyst, usually doctor will offer aspiration or renal decortication to drain the fluid out. The surgery can alleviate abdominal pain and other discomforts in short time, however the recurrent rate is high and surgery is another trauma to the kidney. What is more, it is difficult and has risk to remove deep cysts in the kidney.

Chinese medicines have unique effects on treating kidney cysts and of cause the smaller the cyst is the better the curative effect is. Chinese medicine can not remove the cyst but aim at slowing down its growth rate and reducing its size. Though it takes effects slowly but the effects are durable and it is a mild and natural treatment which causes no additional injuries or side effects to the body.