ABSTRACT
Background: Untill now, many minimal invasive methods have been applied in treating ureteral stones such as the endoscopic ureterolithotripsy technique of Perez-Castro and Martinez-Pinero (1980), the tetroperitoneal laparoscopic ureterolithotomy technique of Wickham (1979) and so on. Retrograde endoscopic ureterolithotripsy with holmium laser has been applied in management of ureteral stones at the Post hospital I Hanoi since 2003. Objective: To show results of retrograde endoscopic ureterolithotripsy with holmium laser in management of ureteral stones at the Post hospital I Hanoi. Subjects and method: A retrospective study was conducted in 183 patients who underwent retrograde endoscopic ureterolithotripsy with holmium laser at the Post hospital I Hanoi, from July/2003 to July/2005. Results:In 183 patients, female was more than male (54.7% versus 45.4%); the mean age was 45.4 (range 14-77). There were total 212 lithotrity stones, of which the rate of left, right, upper-third, middle-third and lower-third ureteral stone was respectively 51.9%, 48.1%, 43.2%, 22.4% and 34.4%. The mean size of ureteral stone was 15.1mm x 11.17mm and the average time of ureterolithotripsy was 48.1 minutes (range 15 -120). Conclusion: The rate of success for etrograde endoscopic ureterolithotripsy with holmium laser was high (92.9%), especially the success rate for lower-third ureteral calculi (100%) and the success rate for upper-third ureteral stones (84.8%). However, 5/165 patients (3%) who had follow-up examination for 2-4 years after surgery had ureteral stenosis. This complication was resulted from burned mucous membrane during endoscopic ureterolithotripsy with laser.