The Role of Intravenous Urography in the Evaluation of Hydronephrosis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Hydronephrosis is one of the diseases that causes dilation in the calices and pelvis of the kidney. It is considered one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose in urology. The study estimated the effectiveness of imaging methods, ultrasound (US), intravenous urography (IVU), and computed tomography (CT), for detecting the severity of hydronephrosis in adult patients.

Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study carried out at Ghazi Alhariri Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, from January 2024 to December 2024 with 100 patients diagnosed with hydronephrosis. Pregnant women, patients with renal failure, and patients allergic to the contrast were excluded. The results were analyzed with chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and binary logistic regression for risk factors for hydronephrosis (p < 0.05).

Results: The results showed that the mean age of patients was 39.0 ± 0.9 years, and females and males were 60% and 40%, respectively. A high relationship between imaging techniques and hydronephrosis groups (P = 0.000). The three imaging techniques have proven their efficiency in diagnosing advanced cases of hydronephrosis, despite there being no relationship between these three methods (p = 0.233). Moreover, the results showed that there is a relationship between the severity of hydronephrosis with age and past urolithiasis, but there is no relationship between the disease and the patient’s sex.

Conclusions: The three imaging methods have proven their efficiency in diagnosing hydronephrosis grades, but ultrasound is preferred as a preliminary examination, and IVU techniques should be avoided as much as possible due to the possibility of side effects resulting from them.