“…flank pain, suprapubic pain, urinary frequency, bacteriuria, dysuria or haematuria and the elevation of serum C-reactive protein levels (reference value ,5 mg l 21 ) and blood white cell count (reference value, 3.5-8.8 3 10 9 l 21 )]. Of these 129 patients, those with the following characteristics were excluded: ascites surrounding the right retromesenteric plane (n 5 1), renal cell carcinomas (n 5 4), retroperitoneal neoplasms (n 5 2), hypoalbuminaemia (serum albumin level , 3.0 g dl 21 ) (n 5 3) and a history of abdominal surgery (n 5 5).…”