The renal veins carry blood from the kidneys back to the heart.
The renal veins are blood vessels that return blood to the heart from the kidney.
Each kidney has its own renal vein, called the right and left renal veins.
Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeen / Getty Images
The left renal vein is longer than the right.
What Is the Function of the Renal Veins?
Blood is delivered to the kidneys by the right and left renal arteries.
The kidneys rid the blood of excess or toxic substances, excreting them into the urine.
Blood is returned to the heart via the renal veins after it has been processed by the kidneys.
Acute renal vein thrombosis may also arise from trauma.
In newborns, severe dehydration may also result in renal vein thrombosis.
People with renal vein thrombosis may or may not have symptoms.
Duringsurgical removal of a kidney tumor, surgeons may be able to remove associated tumor thrombus.
This happens when the space between the SMA and the aortawhich the renal vein must pass throughis too narrow.
Nutcracker syndrome is a vaguely defined condition.
There is no agreement on its exact cause or how it should be diagnosed.
Women with nutcracker syndrome may developpelvic congestion syndrome, characterized by chronic pelvic pain.
Young patients with nutcracker syndrome may outgrow their symptoms.
Patients with severe symptoms may require surgical treatment.
Summary
Most people have two renal veins.
One returns blood to the heart from the right kidney, the other from the left.
The renal veins return filtered blood to the heart through the inferior vena cava.
Some people have variations in their renal veins such as two left renal veins.
The renal veins are also associated with certain medical conditions, including renal vein thrombosis and nutcracker syndrome.
2021;11(5):1140-1149. doi:10.21037/cdt-20-160
