Back pain has many causes, not just degenerative lumbar spine disease, everyone needs to pay attention.
Mr. Tran (60 years old) in China is a photographer, loves to go outdoors with friends. In 2016, he had back pain, when he went to the hospital for examination, he was diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation.
Because he often works outside, Mr. Tran's back pain symptoms recurred many times, and over time he got used to this condition.
In 2017, Mr. Tran went to the hospital for a routine health check and discovered a 3cm cyst in his left kidney. The doctor suggested that he observe more symptoms, if he saw anything unusual, he would return for a check-up.
He said he did not have any other uncomfortable feelings. In recent years, when he went for a health check-up, the doctor also informed him that he had cysts smaller than 5cm in size, so he subjectively did not care.
In the past 2 months, Mr. Tran felt that his lower back pain was getting worse, and he could not move quickly when going out with friends. He suspected that his herniated disc had worsened, so he went to the hospital for rehabilitation treatment and was prescribed some medicine to take at home.
Earlier this month, Mr. Tran went to Wuhan Central Hospital for a routine health check-up but was informed that the cysts in his kidneys had grown to 10cm and needed to be treated as soon as possible.
On May 4, Mr. Tran went to the Nephrology Department for treatment. After examination, the doctor discovered that the cysts were severely compressing his kidneys.
"Kidney cysts measuring 10cm in size are very rare in clinical practice. If they rupture, they can cause serious infections," said Dr. Tran Van Le, head of the Nephrology Department.
Mr. Tran's lower back pain could be caused by kidney cysts and not simply lower back pain due to spinal degeneration.
After careful discussion, Mr. Tran agreed to undergo surgery, hoping to shorten the progression of the disease.
Dr. Tran Van Le said that for renal cysts larger than 4cm, percutaneous nephrocentesis and aspiration can be used to drain the fluid in the cyst. This method can effectively relieve symptoms.
On May 6, experts from the Department of Nephrology and Ultrasound successfully performed a percutaneous nephrocentesis for Mr. Tran and aspirated 350ml of fluid from the renal cyst.
After the surgery, Mr. Tran's symptoms were significantly relieved, his daily life was not greatly affected, the wound on his skin healed quickly, and he was discharged from the hospital.
Dr. Tran Van Le reminded everyone that a symptom can be caused by many reasons. It is best for everyone to have regular health check-ups, especially for those who have been diagnosed with the disease.