Intramuscular urography in rats.

In addition to macroscopic studies, microscopic studies, and biologic tests, urography is a valuable method for investigating renal function in rats. Intravenous urography is complicated, however, by the difficulty of puncturing a tail vein or the femoral vein. Intramuscular urography, on the other hand, is a simple and reliable method for radiographic examination of the kidneys and ureters, and gives information on morphology as well as physiology. In this study in 40 rats, intramuscular urography was performed under general anesthesia, and the contrast medium was injected into the gluteal muscles. Dense nephrograms and optimum films of the calices and the ureters were obtained approximately 40 minutes after injection.