Urinary System Medical Term

Nephr/o, ren/o

Kidney

Hydro/o

Water

Cyst/o

Bladder

Pyel/o

Renal collecting ducts

Ur/o, -uria

Urine

Olig/o

Scanty, less than normal

-pexy

Surgical fixation in the normal position

Nephritis

Inflammation of the kidney

Renal artery

Artery that carries blood to the kidney

Hydronephrosis

Abnormal condition in which urine backs up into the kidney

Cystitis

Inflammation of the bladder

Cystectomy

Removal of the bladder

Pyelogram

X-ray of the kidney's collecting ducts

Polyuria

Frequent urination

Anuria

No urine formation

Oliguria

Reduced urine formation

Nephropexy

Surgically attaching the kidney in its normal position

Nephrosis

Noninflammatory disease of the kidneys

Nephrolith

Kidney stone

Urethritis

Inflammation of the urethra, the pathway for urine in both sexes and for semen in males

Nocturia

Getting up during the night to urinate

Enuresis

Involuntary release of urine, usually bedwetting

Nephrologist

Physician who specializes in kidney diseases

Urologist

Physician who specializes in the genitourinary tract: kidneys, bladder, and urethra in both sexes, plus prostate and testes in men

Cystoscopy

Looking into the bladder with a fiberoptic instrument

Intravenous pyelogram (IVP)

X-rays showing the kidney's drainage pattern after a contrast dye is injected into a vein

Retrograde pyelogram

Dye flushed backward up the urethra, bladder, and ureters to the kidneys, then X-rayed

Voiding cystourethrogram

X-ray of the urethra and bladder while the patient urinates

Dialysis

Machine that cleanses the blood of waste products for patients with kidney failure or no kidneys; the blood is returned to the patient

Lithotripsy

Crushing kidney stones with sound waves; the fragments pass out through the ureter, bladder, and urethra

Nephrolithotripsy

Elective sound-wave crushing of kidney stones, which may spare the patient surgery