Q62.7: Congenital vesico-uretero-renal reflux

Your urine has been flowing from your bladder back into your ureter since you were born.

The ureter is a thin, muscular tube in the abdomen. There is usually one ureter on each side. The urine flows from the kidney, via the ureter, to the bladder. The transition from the ureter to the bladder is normally constructed in such a way as to prevent urine flowing back from the bladder. If, for example, this transition is not properly developed, the urine can flow back from the bladder to the ureter.

Different degrees of severity are assigned depending on how much the urine flows back from the bladder. The lowest degree of severity is where the urine only flows back into the ureter. The higher degrees of severity are where the urine flows back into the kidneys. Renal tissue may be damaged as a result.

There may be other symptoms depending on the degree of severity. It is possible that you have no symptoms at all. However, you may have pain when urinating, for example. The pain may occur in the area to the side of your abdomen and back.

Your urinary tract may also get infected more often by pathogens. The urinary passages include the ureters, bladder and urethra. An inflamed urinary tract may cause you pain, among other things, when urinating. You then also have to pass urine more often.