Acute urinary tract obstruction - Imaging update

This article reviews current imaging techniques for diagnosis of acute urinary tract obstruction. It is designed to familiarize the urologist with newly reported imaging tools in ultrasound and noncontrast CT that are gaining greater acceptance and becoming more readily available as the initial imaging modality in acute obstruction. Although intravenous urography long has been the accepted standard, ultrasound has assumed a more prominent role with the emergence of Doppler interrogation to assess renal blood flow and the use of color Doppler to detect urine flow into the bladder. CT is effective and efficient in the initial evaluation of flank pain.