Which of the following is a sign of acute pyelonephritis?

Enhance your paramedic skills with the Platinum Paramedic Test. Dive into comprehensive quiz formats with detailed explanations and solutions. Prepare effectively for your certification!

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is a sign of acute pyelonephritis?

A fever greater than 102 F reflects a systemic inflammatory response to a kidney infection, which is a hallmark of acute pyelonephritis. When the renal parenchyma is infected, the body often mounts a high fever as part of fighting the bacteria, along with other symptoms like flank pain, nausea, vomiting, and costovertebral angle tenderness. The other options don’t fit the pattern of a kidney infection: hearing loss doesn’t relate to kidney involvement, shortness of breath isn’t a classic sign of acute pyelonephritis (though severe illness can cause respiratory distress, it’s not specific to this condition), and jaundice points to liver or biliary tract issues rather than the kidney. So a high fever is the most consistent sign among the choices for acute pyelonephritis.

A fever greater than 102 F reflects a systemic inflammatory response to a kidney infection, which is a hallmark of acute pyelonephritis. When the renal parenchyma is infected, the body often mounts a high fever as part of fighting the bacteria, along with other symptoms like flank pain, nausea, vomiting, and costovertebral angle tenderness. The other options don’t fit the pattern of a kidney infection: hearing loss doesn’t relate to kidney involvement, shortness of breath isn’t a classic sign of acute pyelonephritis (though severe illness can cause respiratory distress, it’s not specific to this condition), and jaundice points to liver or biliary tract issues rather than the kidney. So a high fever is the most consistent sign among the choices for acute pyelonephritis.

More practice questions