1. Identify the Symptoms
If your bladder is not emptying completely, you're urinating frequently and you're suffering from recurring urinary tract infections and chronic low-grade back pain, your doctor may wish to have you tested for signs of reflux uropathy. This condition is more common in children, particularly boys, than in adults, but it can occur at any age. If your symptoms also include difficulty or pain while urinating, fever, nausea or vomiting, weight gain or swelling, decreased urine output or blood in the urine, you may be suffering from obstructive uropathy, which could cause permanent and severe damage to your kidneys if it's not treated promptly.
2. Use Radiological Procedures to Check for Reflux Uropathy
If your doctor suspects reflux uropathy, she is likely to order a procedure called an intravenous pyelogram (IVP). You'll be injected with a contrast dye and then have x-rays taken as the dye travels through your urinary tract. This will be performed in conjunction with a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG), a procedure in which your bladder will be filled--via catheter--with a water-soluble contrast medium. As your bladder fills, a radiologist will watch the process through a fluoroscopic monitor to see whether any of the liquid is flowing backward into one or both of your ureters. Several x-ray images of your bladder and urethra will then be taken as you empty your bladder, with a final one being taken once you've emptied it completely.
3. Undergo Medical Testing to Identify Obstructive Uropathy
In the case of suspected obstructive uropathy, the first step in diagnosis will be undergoing a complete medical exam. A physical exam can show whether your bladder is enlarged or overfull, your kidneys are swollen or tender, or your prostate (should you be male) is enlarged. You may also undergo the IVP and VCUG procedures, or your doctor may order an abdominal ultrasound, an abdominal CT scan or even a renal nuclear scan. All of these will be able to show the size and location of any obstructions that may be blocking the flow of your urine as well as any swelling of your kidneys.
