How Does Ureteroscopy Reach a Kidney Stone Without an Incision? A Step-by-Step Look

The CT report says a stone is lodged partway down the tube between your left kidney and bladder. It is not passing. Your urologist mentions a procedure called ureteroscopy, and the word you hear loudest in the explanation is the one that is missing: no cut. No incision, no drain, no scar. You nod, and on the drive home the obvious question surfaces: how does anyone get an instrument from the outside of your body to a stone buried behind your ribs without opening anything?

The honest answer is both simpler and more elegant than most people expect. Your urinary tract is already a continuous corridor from the outside world to the kidney. Urologists learned to travel it in reverse. Understanding how is ureteroscopy performed turns a vague, slightly frightening idea into a sequence of ordinary steps, each with a reason.

What follows walks that corridor with you: the instruments, the laser, the stent you may wake up with, the first two weeks afterward, and the moments that genuinely warrant a phone call.

Why the urinary tract makes an incision unnecessary

Picture the urinary system as a plumbing diagram rather than a set of organs. Each kidney filters blood and drips urine into a funnel-shaped collecting area called the renal pelvis. From there, a muscular tube roughly the width of a drinking straw’s inner channel, the ureter, carries urine down to the bladder. The bladder empties through the urethra, the short tube that opens to the outside. Every part connects to the next. There is no wall to cross.

That continuity is the entire premise of ureteroscopy. A ureteroscope is a thin, lighted telescope, either rigid or bendable, with a camera at its tip and a working channel through which instruments can pass. Because the tract is a sealed corridor, the scope can enter where urine exits and travel upstream, through the bladder, into the ureter and, with a flexible scope, up into the kidney itself.

Two features of the ureter make this possible. First, it stretches. The tube that normally hugs a trickle of urine will accommodate a slender instrument when gently dilated. Second, it is lined with a smooth, resilient tissue called urothelium that tolerates the passage of a scope far better than most people fear, and that heals readily afterward, as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) describes in its patient guidance.

This is why ureteroscopy is classed as a minimally invasive, endoscopic procedure. Endoscopic simply means looking inside the body through a natural opening or a very small entry point. Nothing is removed from the outside in. The stone is found, dealt with and carried out along the same route the scope came in.

Mayo Clinic’s overview of kidney stone treatment describes the approach in one sentence: a thin lighted tube equipped with a camera is passed through the urethra and bladder to the ureter to reach the stone. The rest of this article is the longer version of that sentence.

How is ureteroscopy performed, step by step?

The choreography varies between surgeons and hospitals, but the sequence below reflects what mainstream guidance from NIDDK, Cleveland Clinic and the NHS describes.

Before the room. You will usually have a recent scan showing the stone’s size and location, a urine test to rule out infection and a conversation about anesthesia. Active urinary infection matters: pushing bacteria upstream into a kidney is a risk urologists take seriously, so infection is generally treated first.

Anesthesia. Most ureteroscopy is done under general anesthesia, meaning you are fully asleep, though regional or spinal anesthesia is sometimes used. You lie on your back with your legs supported, a position that gives straight access to the urethra.

Cystoscopy first. The urologist begins with a cystoscope, a short scope for viewing the bladder, and locates the ureteral orifice, the small opening where the ureter enters the bladder wall.

The guidewire. A soft, thin wire is threaded through that opening and up the ureter under X-ray guidance. It acts like a handrail, marking a safe path the scope can follow.

Advancing the scope. The ureteroscope slides along or beside the wire. Sterile fluid flows through it to keep the channel open and the view clear, much as a diver’s mask needs clear water. Some surgeons place a slender protective tube called an access sheath that stays in the ureter for the duration and lets the scope pass in and out repeatedly.

At the stone. Small stones are captured whole in a tiny wire basket and withdrawn. Larger ones are fragmented with a laser fiber (covered in the next section) and the pieces retrieved or left as dust to pass.

Finishing. The surgeon inspects the ureter and kidney, often places a temporary stent, and removes the scope. No stitches are needed because nothing was cut.

What happens during ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy?

Lithotripsy is the general term for breaking stones apart, from the Greek for stone crushing. When the stone is too large to fit through the ureter in a basket, the urologist passes a hair-thin laser fiber down the scope’s working channel and touches it to the stone’s surface. Pulses of light energy fracture the mineral. Depending on how the settings are chosen, the stone either splits into fragments the surgeon can basket out, or is dusted into particles fine enough to wash out with urine over the following days.

The mechanism matters for one reason patients ask about constantly: does the laser burn the ureter? The laser types used for stones deliver energy that is absorbed over a very short distance in water, and the ureter is bathed in irrigation fluid throughout. The surgeon works with the fiber tip on the stone and watches the whole process on a screen, so the energy is directed at mineral, not tissue. Cleveland Clinic and NIDDK both describe laser fragmentation as a standard, routine component of the procedure rather than an added risk.

Fragmentation is slower than it looks in animations. A hard stone can take considerable patience, and the total operating time depends heavily on stone size, hardness and number. Cleveland Clinic’s patient guidance describes ureteroscopy as typically taking up to about an hour, with longer times for complex cases. That range is a guide to what is common, not a schedule anyone can promise.

A second technique, pneumatic or ultrasonic fragmentation, uses mechanical energy instead of light and is more often used with rigid scopes lower in the ureter. Your surgeon chooses based on the stone’s position and the equipment best suited to it.

Whatever the tool, the goal is the same: convert one immovable object into pieces small enough to leave the body by the exit it was always heading toward.

Rigid or flexible scope: reaching a ureteral stone versus a kidney stone

Two families of ureteroscope exist, and which one your surgeon reaches for depends mostly on geography inside your body.

A rigid ureteroscope is a straight metal telescope. It offers excellent optics and strong irrigation flow, and it works well for stones in the lower and middle ureter, where the path from bladder to stone is nearly a straight line. Think of it as a good instrument for a corridor without corners.

A flexible ureteroscope has a controllable tip that bends sharply in two directions, steered by a lever at the handpiece. It can round the natural curve where the ureter joins the kidney and then navigate into the individual cups of the collecting system, called calyces, where stones often sit. When the procedure is aimed at a stone inside the kidney rather than the ureter, this is the tool. Some surgeons refer to the kidney-focused version as retrograde intrarenal surgery, which simply means working inside the kidney by traveling upstream.

Flexible scopes are narrower and more delicate, so surgeons often use an access sheath to protect both the ureter and the instrument during repeated passes. The trade-off is slightly weaker irrigation and a narrower working channel, which is one reason kidney stones may be dusted rather than pulled out piece by piece.

Many procedures use both. The surgeon may clear a ureteral stone with a rigid scope, then switch to a flexible one to check the kidney for additional fragments. From the patient’s side of the anesthesia, none of this is felt; it is worth knowing only because it explains why one person’s operation note reads differently from another’s.

Neither scope is universally better. The right one is the one that reaches your stone safely with the clearest view.

Who is ureteroscopy usually for, and who is asked to wait?

Not every stone needs a procedure. The NHS notes that most kidney stones are small enough to pass on their own with fluids and time, and observation with pain management is a legitimate plan for many people. Ureteroscopy enters the conversation when watching and waiting is not working or not safe.

Common reasons a treating team may recommend it include a stone lodged in the ureter that has not moved over a period the team judges reasonable, pain that cannot be controlled, a stone blocking urine flow with signs of kidney strain on imaging, or a stone too large to pass but within the range a scope can manage. Mayo Clinic describes ureteroscopy as an option for stones in the ureter or kidney, particularly when shock wave lithotripsy is unsuitable. It is also frequently chosen for people who cannot safely take a break from blood-thinning medicines, because the technique does not rely on shock waves that can cause bleeding around the kidney, and for stones that are hard to see on X-ray.

People commonly asked to wait or choose another route include those with an active urinary infection, which is generally treated before any instrument goes upstream; those whose stone is very large, where a different technique may be more efficient; and those whose stone is likely to pass on its own in the near future. Pregnancy, anatomical variations and prior surgery on the urinary tract all shape the decision without ruling it out.

What this means in practice is that the recommendation you receive is a judgment about your specific stone, kidney and health, not a verdict about ureteroscopy in general. If the reasoning is not clear to you, asking your team to walk through why this option and not another is entirely reasonable.

Ureteroscopy vs shock wave lithotripsy vs percutaneous surgery: a comparison

Ureteroscopy is one of three procedures urologists commonly use for stones that will not pass. Seeing them side by side clarifies why a surgeon might favor one over another.

Feature	Ureteroscopy	Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL)	Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL)
How the stone is reached	Scope passed up the natural urinary tract	Focused sound waves from outside the body	Small incision in the back directly into the kidney
Incision	None	None	Yes, small
Anesthesia	Usually general or spinal	Sedation or general	General
Typical stone setting	Ureteral stones; many kidney stones	Smaller kidney and upper ureteral stones	Large or complex kidney stones
Direct view of stone	Yes, on camera	No, imaging only	Yes
Usual stay	Often same day (NHS)	Same day	Usually overnight or longer
Temporary stent common?	Frequently	Sometimes	Sometimes, plus a possible drainage tube

The table hides one important nuance: these are not competitors so much as tools sized for different jobs. SWL is the least invasive but works blind, relying on imaging to aim and on your body to pass every fragment. PCNL is the most invasive but the most efficient for very large stone burdens, which is why the NHS reserves it for larger stones. Ureteroscopy sits between them, trading a slightly more involved anesthetic than SWL for the surgeon’s ability to see the stone, confirm it is gone and remove fragments directly.

No provider, city or country does one of these better in a way that should drive your choice. The stone’s size, position, hardness and your own health do.

Is ureteroscopy painful? What you feel before, during and after

Searches for how painful is a ureteroscopy outnumber almost every other question about the procedure, and the answer has a clear shape: nothing during, a predictable discomfort after.

During the operation you are under anesthesia. The scope, the wire, the laser and the basket are all unfelt. Some people expect to be awake as they might be for a diagnostic cystoscopy in a clinic; ureteroscopy for stones is different because the instruments travel further and the procedure takes longer.

Afterward, the discomfort comes from three sources, and knowing which is which helps. The urethra and bladder have been stretched and irrigated, so NIDDK describes burning with urination and small amounts of blood in the urine as common for about a day or so. The ureter has been dilated and may spasm, producing a flank ache that can resemble a milder version of the original stone pain. And if a stent was placed, its lower coil sits in the bladder and can trigger urgency, frequency and a pulling sensation toward the kidney during urination.

People who have had both often say the stent, not the surgery, is the part they remember. That discomfort is real, varies enormously between individuals and is temporary, ending when the stent comes out.

Pain management after ureteroscopy typically uses over-the-counter anti-inflammatory or acetaminophen-type medicines, sometimes with a short course of medicines that relax the ureter and bladder to ease stent symptoms. Which of these are appropriate for you, and in what form, is a decision for your prescribing clinician, who knows your kidney function and other medicines. Anything you were told to take or avoid before the procedure applies until they say otherwise.

Why you may wake up with a ureteral stent after ureteroscopy

A ureteral stent is a soft, hollow plastic tube, curled at both ends, that sits inside the ureter with one coil resting in the kidney and the other in the bladder. It keeps the passage open and lets urine drain around any swelling. Many people are surprised to learn they have one; it is entirely internal, invisible from outside and placed at the end of the procedure while you are still asleep.

The reasoning is mechanical. After a scope has traveled the ureter and a laser has fragmented a stone, the lining swells. A swollen ureter can narrow enough to block urine, which recreates the exact problem the procedure was meant to solve. The stent acts as a scaffold during that swollen period. It also allows residual dust and fragments to pass alongside it rather than piling up behind a pinch point.

Not everyone needs one. For uncomplicated procedures with minimal manipulation, some surgeons omit the stent, and studies summarized in patient guidance from Cleveland Clinic describe stent placement as common but not universal. When a stent is placed, it typically stays for a period the team sets in advance, described by Cleveland Clinic as ranging from days to a few weeks depending on the reason.

Removal is usually brief. Some stents have a thread left trailing outside the urethra so they can be pulled in clinic or at home on instruction. Others are removed with a quick cystoscopy under local anesthetic. Either way, the appointment matters: a stent left far past its intended time can develop mineral crust and become difficult to remove, so keeping that date is one of the most useful things you can do for yourself after surgery.

If you are unsure whether you have a stent, ask before you leave the recovery area.

Is ureteroscopy a major or minor surgery? Risks in plain language

Ureteroscopy is generally described as minimally invasive rather than minor, and the distinction is worth keeping. There is no incision, and the NHS notes that people usually go home the same day. But it involves general anesthesia, instruments inside a delicate tube and a small but real set of complications that the treating team will want you to understand.

The most common issues are the expected ones: blood in the urine, burning on urination and stent discomfort, all typically settling within days as NIDDK and Cleveland Clinic describe. Beyond those, the risks urologists discuss during consent include:

• Urinary tract infection or, less often, kidney infection, because instruments can carry bacteria upstream; this is why pre-procedure urine testing matters.
• Injury to the ureter, ranging from a superficial scrape that heals on its own to, rarely, a perforation or tear that may need a longer stent period or further treatment.
• Ureteral stricture, a narrowing that forms as scar tissue during healing; uncommon but the reason some teams schedule follow-up imaging.
• Residual fragments that need a second procedure, particularly with large or multiple stones.
• Stent migration or blockage, and the general risks of anesthesia.

Mainstream sources agree that serious complications are uncommon, but no honest article should attach a precise percentage to your case, because your risk depends on your stone, anatomy and health. Your surgeon can give you a personalized sense of where you sit.

Alternatives always exist. Observation, medicines that relax the ureter to help a small stone pass, shock wave lithotripsy and percutaneous surgery are the main ones, each with its own profile. Weighing them is exactly what the consultation before ureteroscopy is for.

Ureteroscopy recovery time: what the first days and weeks usually look like

Recovery after ureteroscopy is usually measured in days rather than weeks, with the stent, if you have one, setting the real timeline.

The first hours. You wake in recovery, and once you are alert, have urinated and pain is controlled, discharge follows. The NHS describes same-day discharge as usual. Someone else must drive you home after general anesthesia.

Days one to three. Pink or rusty urine, burning with urination and a dull flank ache are ordinary, and NIDDK notes these typically last about a day or so, sometimes a little longer. Drinking steadily helps flush fragments and dilutes the blood in urine so it looks less alarming. Light walking is encouraged; strenuous exercise and heavy lifting are generally deferred while the stent is in, because vigorous movement tends to worsen stent irritation and bleeding.

The first week. Many people return to desk work within a few days, depending on how they feel and the physical demands of their job. Stent symptoms may plateau rather than disappear. Passing small gritty fragments is normal; your team may ask you to collect them for analysis, since knowing the stone’s chemical composition guides prevention.

Stent removal. Whenever this falls in your plan, expect a day or two of mild burning afterward as the bladder recovers from the coil. Symptoms then usually fade quickly.

Weeks two to six. Follow-up imaging, often an ultrasound or X-ray, confirms the kidney is draining and checks for residual fragments. This visit is also where prevention starts: fluid targets, dietary discussion and sometimes urine chemistry testing.

Every one of these markers is a typical range from published patient guidance, not a promise. People with complicated stones, infections or other health conditions often recover on a different curve, and the treating team’s instructions override any general timeline.

Peeing, pooping and the bathroom after ureteroscopy

Few surgical explainers address the question people type in private, so here it is plainly.

Urinating. Expect urgency and frequency, particularly with a stent. The first few streams may sting and look pink. Urinating with the bladder relaxed rather than pushing tends to be more comfortable; straining forces urine against the stent and can trigger the kidney-ward ache. A pale, watered-down color over the first days is a reassuring sign that fluids are doing their job.

Bowel movements. Constipation is common after any operation, for a stack of reasons: anesthesia slows the gut, opioid-type painkillers slow it further, fluid intake often dips, and people move less. With a stent in place, straining on the toilet is also uncomfortable because pelvic pressure jostles the bladder coil. A few practical measures help. Keep fluids up. Favor fiber from fruit, vegetables and whole grains. Walk, even short laps indoors, since movement stimulates the bowel. If you were given opioid-type medicine, use the smallest amount that manages your pain and ask whether a stool softener or gentle laxative is appropriate for you; the class and choice belong to your prescribing clinician, not a general article. Placing your feet on a low stool while seated changes the angle of the rectum and reduces the need to push.

Blood clots in urine. Small dark clots can appear, especially after a stent is removed or after exertion. They usually pass. Large clots, an inability to urinate or urine that turns thick and dark rather than pink belong in the red-flag section below.

Sex. Most guidance suggests waiting until burning and bleeding have settled and, if a stent thread is trailing, until the stent is out. Ask your team for their specific advice.

None of this is glamorous, but it is where most post-procedure worry actually lives.

What people often get wrong about ureteroscopy

Myth: the laser is what makes ureteroscopy risky. The laser is applied to the stone under direct vision in a fluid-filled channel. Complications, when they occur, are more often related to scope passage, infection or the stent than to the laser itself, as NIDDK and Cleveland Clinic describe.

Myth: no incision means no anesthesia. Ureteroscopy for stones is nearly always performed under general or spinal anesthesia. The absence of a cut does not mean you will be awake.

Myth: once the stone is out, the problem is solved. Removing a stone treats the immediate blockage. It does not change the chemistry that formed it. Mayo Clinic and the NHS both emphasize that people who have formed one stone are at increased risk of forming another, which is why fluid intake and, where indicated, dietary or metabolic evaluation follow the procedure.

Myth: the stent is optional discomfort you can skip. When a surgeon places a stent, it is protecting a swollen ureter from blocking. Its removal date is a medical decision, and leaving it in far longer than planned creates its own risks.

Myth: blood in the urine after surgery means something went wrong. Pink urine for a day or so is expected. What matters is the trajectory: getting lighter is normal; getting darker, thicker or clotted is not.

Myth: a bigger stone always means a bigger operation. Size is one factor among several. Location, hardness, number of stones and your anatomy all determine whether ureteroscopy, shock wave lithotripsy or percutaneous surgery is the better fit.

Myth: passing fragments afterward means the procedure failed. When a stone is dusted, passing fine grit over the following days is the intended outcome, not a sign of leftover stone. Your follow-up imaging distinguishes dust from fragments that need attention.

Questions to ask your care team before ureteroscopy

A good consultation leaves you able to explain the plan to someone else. These questions tend to surface the information people wish they had asked about afterward.

• Where exactly is my stone, how large is it, and why is ureteroscopy the right approach for it rather than observation, shock wave lithotripsy or another technique?
• Will you use a rigid scope, a flexible scope or both, and do you expect to remove the stone whole or fragment it with a laser?
• What type of anesthesia will I have, and what do I need to do about eating, drinking and my regular medicines beforehand?
• Do I need a urine test or other checks before the procedure, and what happens if they show an infection?
• Is a stent likely? If so, how long do you expect it to stay, how will it be removed, and will it have an external thread?
• What symptoms should I expect in the first days, and which ones would you want a call about the same day?
• Which of my current medicines, including any blood thinners or supplements, should I pause or continue, and who makes that call?
• When can I return to work, drive, exercise and travel, given the physical demands of my life?
• Should I collect stone fragments for analysis, and will I have a metabolic evaluation to reduce the chance of future stones?
• When and how will I get follow-up imaging to confirm the kidney is draining and the stone is gone?
• Who do I contact after hours if something feels wrong?

Write the answers down or bring someone to listen. The details that matter most, particularly the stent plan and the red-flag symptoms, are easy to lose in the moment.

When to call your doctor after ureteroscopy: red-flag signs

Most recovery worries are ordinary: pink urine, a stinging first pee, a flank ache that eases with fluids and rest. A smaller set of signs points to infection, obstruction or bleeding that needs prompt assessment. Contact your surgical team, or seek urgent care if you cannot reach them, for any of the following:

• Fever or chills, particularly fever above the threshold your team specified, or shaking chills at any temperature. Infection behind a swollen ureter can escalate quickly.
• Severe pain that is not controlled by the medicines you were given, or pain that is steadily worsening rather than easing.
• Inability to urinate, or passing only small dribbles with a full, uncomfortable bladder.
• Heavy bleeding: urine that is thick, dark red or contains large clots, or bleeding that gets heavier over days instead of lighter.
• Persistent nausea or vomiting that prevents you from keeping fluids down.
• Signs of a stent that has moved, such as a sudden change in symptoms, the stent visibly emerging, or a thread that has come loose earlier than planned.
• Dizziness, fainting, rapid heartbeat or confusion, which can signal infection spreading or significant blood loss and warrant emergency care.
• Pain, swelling or redness in a leg, or new shortness of breath, which are unrelated to the urinary tract but can indicate a blood clot after any anesthetic and should be treated as an emergency.

The NHS and NIDDK both stress that fever combined with flank pain after urinary tract instrumentation should never be watched at home overnight. When in doubt, call. Your team would far rather hear about a symptom that turns out to be nothing than miss one that is not.

Every decision about your care, from whether to proceed to when the stent comes out, sits with the clinicians who know your case. This article is a map of the territory; they are your guides through it.

Frequently asked questions

How painful is a ureteroscopy?

You feel nothing during the procedure because it is performed under general or spinal anesthesia. Afterward, expect burning with urination and pink urine for about a day or so, as NIDDK describes, plus a dull flank ache. If a stent is placed, bladder urgency and a pulling sensation toward the kidney are common until it is removed. Pain is usually managed with medicines your clinician selects; discomfort from the stent, not the surgery, is what most people remember.

Is ureteroscopy a major or minor surgery?

It is best described as minimally invasive rather than minor. There is no incision, and the NHS notes people usually go home the same day, but it involves anesthesia, instruments inside a delicate tube and a real, if uncommon, set of complications including infection, ureteral injury and residual fragments. Treating it with the respect due to any operation, especially around follow-up appointments and red-flag symptoms, is the sensible stance.

How long does it take for the ureter to heal after a ureteroscopy?

The ureter’s lining is resilient and typically recovers from scope passage over days to a few weeks, which is why a stent is often left in place to keep the passage open while swelling settles. Cleveland Clinic describes stent duration as ranging from days to a few weeks depending on the situation. Full healing without scarring is the usual course; follow-up imaging checks that the kidney is draining normally. Your team sets the timeline for your case.

How do you poop after ureteroscopy?

Gently, and with preparation. Constipation is common after anesthesia and opioid-type painkillers, and straining is uncomfortable with a stent in the bladder. Keep fluids high, eat fiber from fruit, vegetables and whole grains, walk regularly and rest your feet on a low stool when seated to reduce the need to push. Ask your prescribing clinician whether a stool softener or gentle laxative is appropriate for you rather than choosing one yourself.

What is the ureteroscopy recovery time before returning to work?

Many people return to desk-based work within a few days, while jobs involving heavy lifting or strenuous activity usually wait until the stent is out and bleeding has stopped. The NHS describes same-day discharge as usual, and NIDDK notes that burning and blood in urine typically settle within a day or so. Individual recovery varies with stone complexity and overall health, so treat these as typical ranges and follow your surgeon’s specific advice.

Why do I need a ureteral stent after ureteroscopy?

A stent is a soft internal tube that keeps the ureter open while the lining swells after the scope and laser have passed through. Without it, swelling could narrow the tube and block urine, recreating the original problem. It also lets stone dust drain alongside it. Not everyone needs one, and the decision depends on how much manipulation occurred. Its removal date is medically important, because a stent left far too long can develop mineral crust.

Is ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy safe for the ureter?

Laser fragmentation is a standard part of ureteroscopy described by NIDDK and Cleveland Clinic. The fiber is applied to the stone under direct camera view in a fluid-filled channel, and the laser energy used for stones is absorbed over a very short distance, so it is aimed at mineral rather than tissue. Ureteral injury is an uncommon complication and more often relates to scope passage or a tight ureter than to the laser itself.

Is ureteroscopy painful when the stent is removed?

Stent removal is usually brief and tolerable. Stents with an external thread are pulled in clinic or at home on instruction, which most people describe as a few seconds of odd pressure. Stents without a thread are removed with a quick cystoscopy under local anesthetic gel. Mild burning and pink urine for a day or two afterward are common, and stent-related urgency typically fades quickly once the coil is out of the bladder.

Can a kidney stone come back after ureteroscopy?

Yes. Ureteroscopy removes the stone but does not change the urine chemistry that formed it, and Mayo Clinic and the NHS both note that people who have formed one stone have an increased risk of forming another. That is why follow-up often includes analysis of the stone’s composition, advice on fluid intake and diet and sometimes urine chemistry testing. Prevention is a separate conversation worth having with your team.

How is ureteroscopy performed differently for a kidney stone versus a ureteral stone?

The route is the same: through the urethra and bladder into the ureter. For a stone in the lower ureter, a straight rigid scope often suffices. For a stone inside the kidney, a flexible scope with a steerable tip bends around the ureter’s upper curve and into the kidney’s collecting cups, often through a protective access sheath, and the stone is usually dusted with a laser because the working channel is narrower.

References

• Cystoscopy & Ureteroscopy – National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH)
• Kidney stones – Treatment – NHS
• Kidney Stones – MedlinePlus

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.