What is ureteroscopy?

URS (Ureteroscopy) is a form of minimally invasive surgery with a small telescope that is passed through the urethra into the ureter to remove a stone. In most cases, the fragmentation is needed with a laser that allows removing the stone with a gasping device. Surgical intervention is needed in around 10 to 15 percent cases only.

What about the procedure?

URS is an outpatient procedure that means the patient can get back home on the same day. The procedure is done with the use of general anesthesia, but in some cases, regional anesthesia can be used. To prevent infection preoperative antibiotics are given. The procedure of the length can vary from case to case, which can be 20 minutes to 1 hour or maybe longer.

What happens after the procedure?

Following the procedure, the patients are awakened in the operating room and then taken to the recovery room. Once all hospital discharge criteria are met, patients need to get back to the home. A family member or friend will accompany you home following the procedure. No limitations on physical activity are needed after discharge. The patients should take one day off from work following the treatment.

What are Stents?

• A urethral stent is a soft hollow tube that acts like a straw to allow the urine to pass from the kidney down to the ureter and then to the bladder. It is very common to have a stent placed into the ureter at the end of SRS.
• Stent placement is done due to different reasons, all of them are to help the ureter to remain open following the treatment. To the stent, the string is left attached, and it dangles out the urethra. This string helps in removing the stent 2 to 5 days following the surgery.
• There can be side effects related to the stent such as irritative urinary symptoms or pain in the kidney. These symptoms mainly occur when the stent is removed. Mostly, the stent should remain in the ureter for around 4 weeks, especially when there is any injury to the ureter due to the procedure or stone getting removed.

Are there any complications?

Like with any surgical procedure, complications can occur but they are rare. The complications with URS includes:

What about the surgery?

The PCNL surgery is performed under general anesthesia, and the patient needs to lie on the abdomen. After that, cystoscopy is performed and instills X-ray dye or carbon dioxide into the kidney with the use of a small catheter which is placed through the ureter. This helps the surgeon to check the stone location in the kidney, and place a small needle to access the stone with the help of an X-ray. The needle is placed around 1cm to see the stone. Smaller pieces are taken out from the body with the help of mechanical, ultrasonic, or laser lithotripsy. It might be possible a small ureteral stent is left for the drainage in the kidney to the bladder. The entire surgery will take around 3 to 4 hours. After the surgery, the doctor will give you specific instructions that you need to follow to get successful results and recover smoothly.