How do you treat renal artery stenosis?

Procedures to treat renal artery stenosis may include:

1. Renal angioplasty and stenting. In this procedure, doctors widen the narrowed renal artery and place a device (stent) inside your blood vessel that holds the walls of the vessel open and allows for better blood flow.
2. Renal artery bypass surgery.

Is renal artery stenosis life threatening?

Renal artery stenosis due to fibromuscular dysplasia is a potentially fatal condition, and may result in end-stage renal failure.

What is the most common symptom of renal artery stenosis?

Symptoms of renal artery stenosis

• continued high blood pressure (hypertension) despite taking medications to help lower it.
• decreased kidney function.
• fluid retention.
• edema (swelling), especially in your ankles and feet.
• decreased or abnormal kidney function.
• an increase of proteins in your urine.

Can renal stenosis be reversed?

Unlike treatment of fibromuscular dysplasia, cure of atheromatous renal artery stenosis by angioplasty alone is rare. Most atheromatous renal artery stenosis is due to aortic plaques encroaching on the ostium of the renal artery.

Does renal artery stenosis need surgery?

You may need surgery if your renal artery stenosis does not improve with more conservative treatments, if it becomes more severe, or if it is caused by fibromuscular dysplasia.

When do you stent renal artery stenosis?

Renal artery stenting is a procedure to open the renal arteries – the large blood vessels that carry blood to the kidneys – when they have become blocked due to renal artery stenosis (narrowing of the renal artery). This is most often caused by atherosclerosis or fibrous disease of the arteries.

Can renal stenosis cause fatigue?

In severe cases, renal artery disease may lead to kidney failure. Symptoms of kidney failure include weakness, shortness of breath and fatigue.

Can lowering blood pressure improve kidney function?

Medicines that lower blood pressure can also significantly slow the progression of kidney disease. Two types of blood pressure-lowering medications, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), may be effective in slowing the progression of kidney disease.

Is there pain with renal stenosis?

Stenosis of one renal artery is often asymptomatic for a considerable time. Acute complete occlusion of one or both renal arteries causes steady and aching flank pain, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting. Gross hematuria, oliguria, or anuria may occur; hypertension is rare.

Are you put to sleep for a kidney stent?

The stent keeps the ureter open. After the stent is placed, urine should flow better from your kidneys to your bladder. You will get medicine to make you sleep and to prevent pain during the procedure.

When does renal artery stenosis require surgery?

Good candidates for surgery are people with severe narrowing—greater than 60 to 70 percent of the artery’s diameter. People without symptoms or evidence of damage to the arteries or kidneys typically don’t require surgery.

What are the symptoms of a blocked renal artery?

A partial blockage of the renal arteries usually does not cause any symptoms. If blockage is sudden and complete, the person may have a steady aching pain in the lower back or occasionally in the lower abdomen. A complete blockage may cause fever, nausea, vomiting, and back pain.

Who treats renal artery stenosis?

Ohio State’s vascular surgeons are experts in the treatment of renal artery stenosis. They offer both minimally invasive treatments, such as opening of the renal arteries with stents, and they also perform open bypass surgeries to improve blood flow to the kidneys, if necessary.

What causes renal artery stenosis?

The two main causes of renal artery stenosis include: Atherosclerosis of the renal arteries. Atherosclerosis is the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances (plaques) in and on your artery walls. As the deposits get larger, they can harden, reduce blood flow and cause scarring of the kidney.

What is the function of the renal arteries?

The renal artery is a large blood vessel that supplies each kidney. This vessel branches off from the primary artery of the heart, known as the aorta, and it supplies clean, oxygen-rich blood to each kidney.