Ureteral stone extraction under direct ureteroscopic vision: An alternative for routine ureteral stone management

Introduction: During recent years, considerable efforts have been expended into the management of urinary stone. Here, we present our experience on ureteric stone removal without any lithotripsy interventions. Combination direct vision with basket entrapping provided a new dimension to our ureteroscope experience. Materials and methods: Here, we reviewed the medical data of our adult patients with le;10 mm stone size, who received primary stone extraction under direct ureteroscopic vision without lithotripsy during a 2year period. During the six months of followup every patient was seen frequently. Results: The study included 69 patients from both sexes with ages ranging from 18 to 68 years. We obtained 92.7% success rate. The average length of operative procedures was 25.3 plusmn; 10.4 min with a 14.4 % complication rate. Conclusion: Ureteral stone extraction requires considerable caution and may be associated with some complications. Stone extraction under direct ureteroscope guidance facilitates this procedure, especially in the distal stones. It seems combination direct live imaging with basket entrapping may be helpful in these precise cases.