Diagnosis and treatment of ureteral calculi during pregnancy with rigid ureteroscopes

There is still excessive debate as to the preferred diagnostic and therapeutic approach to urolithiasis in pregnancy. We report our experience with 15 pregnant patients with renoureteral colic marked by pain not responsive to analgesia, dilatation and fever. We focused on the usefulness of ureteroscopy with thin instruments and ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of ureteral stone and ureteral colic during pregnancy.

Between 1990 and 1993 we performed ureteroscopy and ureterolithotripsy on 15 pregnant patients 16 to 30 years old. Gestation time ranged from 20 to 34 weeks. All patients underwent ureteroscopy with thin rigid 7.0F or 9.5F ureteroscopes without dilation of the ureteral meatus. The use of ionizing radiation was avoided before, during and after the procedures. A stone was extracted from the lower third of the ureter in 2 cases, displaced into the kidney from the middle third of the ureter in 3, and fragmented with the pulsed dye laser in 3, the holmium:YAG laser in 3 and the ballistic lithotriptor in 2. Finally absence of ureteral calculi was confirmed in 2 cases. A double pigtail ureteral catheter was placed via echographic guidance in 14 cases to monitor curling of the pigtail in the renal pelvis, while in 1 a cylindrical ureteral catheter was used. In 5 cases no anesthesia was necessary, while 10 required neuroleptic analgesia.

There were no complications after the procedure. All pregnancies were full term.

Rigid ureteroscopy may be performed on the entire urinary tract even during advanced pregnancy. Stones may be fragmented, extracted or displaced and double pigtail ureteral catheters may be applied with only sonographic guidance, at times without use of anesthesia. The use of small instruments, such as the Gautier ureteroscope, that do not require dilation or any particular manipulation of the ureteral meatus seems to be essential together with an accurate ureteroscopic technique. In this manner it is possible to diagnose and treat ureteral calculi during pregnancy without resorting to ionizing radiation but using only ultrasound monitoring and ureteroscopy.