Anatomy of the Kidney (Nursing)

00:00 Hi! Welcome to our video series on Kidney Anatomy.

00:04 Now in this one, we're going to go back to the very basics of your kidneys.

00:08 We're going to look at the nephron, the cortex, the medulla, and the capsule.

00:13 So, here you go meet your kidneys.

00:15 I know that probably sounds weird because you've been born with kidneys.

00:18 You've had them your whole life.

00:20 But I want to introduce you from a medical perspective.

00:23 Let's take a look at what these guys can do.

00:26 Now, they are mighty, bean-shaped organs, right? They're about the size of your fist.

00:31 So do me a favor and humor me, put down your writing utensil for just a minute and ball up both of your fists.

00:38 Now take a look at those.

00:40 That's about the actual side of the kidneys that are located in your body.

00:45 Okay, you got it.

00:46 So here you have two of them about the size of your fist.

00:50 Let's talk about where they're located.

00:51 I want you to take those fists and move them behind your back.

00:55 Because they're located just one on either side of the spine.

01:00 Now, take your right fist.

01:02 Move it down a little bit lower down your back, because that's how your real kidneys are.

01:07 Your right kidney is located a little bit lower than your left kidney because of the liver.

01:12 So that's how it kind of accommodates it.

01:14 So these two mighty bean-shaped organs in your body are located near the rear wall, there on either side of your spine, with the right one a little bit lower than your left.

01:27 Now, the major function of the kidneys.

01:30 We look at how they remove excess fluid and waste products from your body.

01:34 So these little guys have some incredible super powers.

01:39 But for this video, we're going to focus on excess fluid and waste product removal.

01:44 So now that we've reviewed the location of the kidneys, I want to take a look at the layers of the kidney.

01:49 So let's get right down into the meat of the kidney.

01:53 The renal medulla is near the innermost part of the kidney or the middle.

01:58 So, I remember that one as medulla, sounds like middle.

02:01 The next layer is the renal cortex.

02:04 Okay, so I've got the medulla in the middle, and then I've got the cortex next.

02:09 Now there is an outer layer.

02:11 And I want you to see this on both drawings.

02:14 You see the drawing on the left as if we sliced right through the kidney.

02:19 The drawing on the right is if we pull way back and look at the kidney as being intact.

02:25 So, we've got the medulla, you've got that it's in the middle.

02:28 Next, you have the cortex.

02:31 Finally, we're going to look at the renal capsule.

02:33 So see it on both drawings.

02:36 So, you've got the medulla in the very middle, the cortex and then the renal capsule.

02:41 Now after that, we get a little personal, right? Because you've got this adipose capsule.

02:46 That's around the kidney. It's called the perirenal fat.

02:50 Now, I think of that as like perinatal, and you have the little babies and you want to hug them and hold them close.

02:56 But on this, I've got this layer of fat around my kidneys perirenal fat and that helps to keep it protected.

03:03 Now, keep on moving outward.

03:05 Back up and review for just a minute.

03:07 Medulla, cortex, capsule, then we have the perirenal fat, then you've got the renal fascia, followed by some pararenal fat.

03:19 Okay, now this is not a slide you just want to zip by.

03:22 You want to pause for a minute here and think, can you put in order from renal medulla, all the way up to pararenal fat? So pause the video and take a minute to make sure you have that all oriented and you can fill that out the steps from renal medulla to pararenal fat.

03:47 Now, nobody likes an extra layer of fat but actually we need it to protect the kidneys.

03:52 There's three things I want you to keep in mind.

03:54 We talked about, what are the structures that help to protect the kidneys? You've got the capsule, the perirenal fat, and you've got the renal fascia.

04:03 So these structures are meant to cushion and protect our kidneys from damage, from trauma, from being hit, and absorbing shock.

04:11 So keeping in mind three things that will keep your kidneys safe: the capsule, the fascia, and the perirenal fat.

04:18 Let's break those down a little bit.

04:20 Now, the renal capsules is tough, fibrous connective tissue layer that covers the outside of each kidney.

04:26 It's tough and fibrous because it's made of collagen and elastin.

04:31 So you can see how that would be helpful.

04:33 It's this protective sack or case around your kidneys.

04:37 All right, I have a question for you.

04:39 How many liters of blood do kidneys filter per day? Now, don't look ahead.

04:43 Just try and guesstimate what you think how many liters of blood do your kidneys filter each day? Yeah, pretty amazing.

04:52 142 liters of blood.

04:55 Now, I love Diet Mountain Dew.

04:57 And I usually get that in a two liter bottle.

05:00 That would be 71 bottles of Diet Mountain Dew.

05:04 That's a phenomenal amount of fluid going through your kidneys every day.

05:09 But the cool part is most of the water and other substances that filter through my kidneys.

05:14 What do you think? They stay in or they go out? Now they're returned to your blood by the tubules.

05:20 Only one to two liters actually become urine.

05:24 So I've got 142 liters racing through my kidneys, but only one to two liters actually get peed out of my body as urine.

05:32 These really are incredible organs.