Back Pain Treatment Training Practice Test

In distinguishing acute kidney stones from pyelonephritis, the presence of fever is a key symptom. Pyelonephritis, which is a kidney infection, typically presents with systemic symptoms including fever, chills, and often malaise due to the infectious process. In contrast, acute kidney stones usually do not present with fever unless there is a complication such as infection superimposed on the stones. Acute kidney stones primarily cause severe, localized pain often described as sharp or colicky, typically in the flank area and potentially radiating toward the lower abdomen or groin, but the absence of fever helps differentiate this condition from pyelonephritis. Recognizing fever as a critical differentiator emphasizes the inflammatory and infectious nature of pyelonephritis, as opposed to the acute pain syndrome that characterizes kidney stones.