Understanding Kidney (Renal) Cysts: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

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Kidney (Renal) Cysts

by Alike Medical Team ∙ Updated on June 13, 2023

Additional names

This group contains additional names: - Cystic kidney disease

General

Kidney cysts are fluid-filled sacs, or cysts, that can form in one or both of your kidneys. They are usually harmless and tends to appear in older people. You can have just one cyst, or you can have many. It can be small as a pea, or large as a golf ball. In rare cases, kidney cysts appear due to a genetic disease called Polycystic kidney disease. It is characterized by the formation of many cysts on both kidneys and can cause chronic kidney failure over time.

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Signs & symptoms

kidney cysts tend to grow bigger and grow in number. However, simple kidney cysts usually don’t cause symptoms or additional health problems. If it becomes large enough it can press on your bones and cause pain or it can burst and cause bloody urine. In rare cases a cyst can get inflamed, causing fever and chills.

Diagnosis

Most kidney cysts are found incidentally, while performing an imaging test for another reason. Your doctor may suggest further imaging and tests to rule out other, more serious problems.

Treatment

If you don’t experience any symptoms usually no treatment is needed. If you are experiencing pain or the cyst got infected, you doctor might offer: -*cyst drainage*- using ultrasound guidance. -*surgery*- to drain the cyst and then remove its outer tissue.

Note

☝ We provide information on prescription and over-the-counter medicines, diagnosis, procedures and lab tests. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

National Institutes of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ MedlinePluse ∙ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

☝ All information has been reviewed by certified physicians from Alike

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