ABSTRACT
The treatment of ureteral calculi has undergone major changes in the past three decades. Driven by the advancement of shock wave lithotripsy, flexible ureteroscopes, laser lithotripsy, percutaneous access, laparoscopy, and medical therapy, the open surgical approach to ureteral calculi has all but been laid to rest. The development of nephrolithiasis guidelines by the American Urological Association (AUA) in 1991 and the subsequent ureteral stone treatment guidelines and outcomes analysis updates in 1997 and 2007 have outlined the standard of care recommendations.(1, 2) The latest update in 2007 is the first international set of ureteral stone treatment guidelines made possible by a cooperative effort between the European Association of Urology (EAU) and the AUA.
