[One year of experience with pulsed dye laser treatment of ureteral calculi]

During a period of one year, 18 patients with symptom-producing ureteric stones were treated with ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy. Pulsed dye laser was employed through a rigid ureteroscope. The laser emits impulses lasting for 2 microseconds with a wave-length of 504 nm. In 11 patients (61%), satisfactory disintegration could be observed and two further patients could be freed from stones by dormia extraction. In three patients treatment was concluded with ultrasound and two with ESWL = extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Three slight perforations of the ureter did not require treatment apart from routine relief by a ureteric catheter or stent. With new thinner scopes, the technique can be simplified, trauma in the ureter reduced and the need for preparation of the ureter eliminated.