Kidney damage from holding wee?

[Rf13]

Hi,
My ds aged 11 has always held onto his wee and will go at the last minute. Sometimes this leads to him leaking wee in his pants.
He told me at the weekend that his back aches when he wees, pointing to both sides where his kidneys are.
He says this only happens as he wees.
I took him to the out of hours service and the dr said there's no infection or blood but we should ask our gp for an ultra sound to check his kidneys which I will do tomorrow.
I am worried that he has damaged his kidneys by holding his wee.
Does anyone else have any experience of this or is anyone a gp who could advise me? I'm so worried.

Anyone?

Maybe get him to drink more fluid & also try to emphasise he needs to go as soon as he feels the need? Then discuss with GP as soon as you can to explain the reasons why. And make sure you get the school on board as if they make him wait, it will just exacerbate the situation.

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, we've been getting him to drink lots and sending him to wee often. He says it's a bit better so fingers crossed. We're going to the Gp tomorrow. I'm just so worried his kidneys are damaged from the habit of holding it.

I have never heard of a child having lasting kidney damage from holding-on that was purely behavioural (rather than an underlying nerve or kidney disorder). Good to tick off the ultrasound but I wouldn't worry excessively from this story.

Thank you so much for your reply. That puts my mind at ease a little.

Not to scare monger, but in case this kidney issues progresses, it might be worth investigating duplex kidney which often shows up in childhood. Basically there are two tubes from the kidney to the bladder where there should only be one, and the second tube brings the urine back up into the kidney and causes pain. Might be worth considering in case scans for kidney stones don’t show up anything.

Ultrasound would look at the underlying plumbing as well as for stones specifically.

Thank you both. He's never had any uti symptoms. Would duplex kidney cause uti's?

In my experience, yes it can make you more prone to UTIs . Here is more info from GOSHhttps://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-we-treat/duplex-kidney/#:~:text=The%20limited%20duplex%20kidney%20(where,more%20prone%20to%20urine%20infections.

Thank you. I'll read up on it. In your experience, was a symptom aching in the kidneys only while weeing?