Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about pylenephritis.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero tofinals.com slash pylo nephritis

or in the urology section of the zero definals surgery book.

So let's get straight into it.

Pininephritis refers to inflammation of the kidney resulting from bacterial infection.

The inflammation affects the renal pelvis, the join between the kidney and the ureta,

as well as the parochyma, which is the tissue of the kidney.

The risk factors for pylenephritis are female sex, structural urological abnormalities,

visicohuteric reflux, which is where urine refluxes from the bladder into the ureters, and this is more

common in children. Pregnancy and diabetes. Let's talk about the causes of pylenephritis.

Escherichia coli is a bacteria that's the most common cause of pylenephritis, as with lower urinary tract infections.

E. coli are gram-negative, anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria that are part of the normal lower

intestinal microbiome. E. coli are found in feces and can easily spread to the bladder,

and then up through the ureters into the kidney.

Other causes of pyloenopritis include Klebsiella pneumoniae, which is also a gram-negative anaerobic rod,

enteroccus species, pseudomonas erogenosa, staphlococcus saprophyticus, and candida albicants, which is a fungal infection.

Next, let's talk about the presentation.

The diagnosis of pylenephritis can be made clinically with a history and examination.

Patients have a similar presentation to lower urinary tract infections

with dysuria, superpubic discomfort and increased frequency of urination, plus the additional

triad of symptoms of pyloinophritis, which are fever, loin or back pain, which could be bilateral

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