INDWELLING URETERAL STENTS AS DEFINITIVE THERAPY FOR DISTAL URETERAL CALCULI

Distal ureteral calculi are a common urological problem often requirin g surgical and anesthetic intervention. In a health care system with l imited resources this intervention can lead to the expenditure of sign ificant monies. Ureteral stents are often used to stabilize symptomati c patients preoperatively. Since stent placement causes passive ureter al dilation, we hypothesized that temporary placement of a ureteral ca theter would facilitate spontaneous calculus passage. We prospectively studied 27 patients who presented with distal ureteral calculi less t han 10 mm. large and met criteria established for surgical interventio n. Self-retaining Double-J stents were placed in 10 male and 7 female patients, and left for 2 weeks using only topical anesthesia during t he procedures. In the majority of the patients (83%) the calculi passe d spontaneously after stent removal, obviating surgical or anesthetic intervention.