[What not to do when confronted with a iatrogenic lesion of the ureter]

Starting from their experience, the Authors report about steps to avoid in case of ureteral injury. They make a distinction between emergencies and planned surgery. In particular they underline that it is always advisable to confine surgery to transcutaneous or surgical nephrostomy when the experience in reconstructive surgery of upper urinary tract is limited. The Authors further suggest strict follow-up so as to avoid loosing functioning renal units due to a silent progression of an ureteral lesion. Ureteral reconstruction is the golden standard of an ureteral lesion repair; long term stenting has to be limited to the cases where a definitive surgery is not possible either for general conditions or for primary malignant disease. The discussion is integrated with pictures of several cases.