Subcutaneous Ureteral Bypass Device

As veterinarians gain experience in the discipline of interventional endourology we find that there are challenges in some of our patients that are not experienced in human endourology. One of these challenges is the feline ureter.  In the healthy state it is a very thin and narrow structure averaging  about  0.4mm in diameter. Ureteral stents for felines are avialbale as small as 2 and 2.5 Fr and for dogs as large as 6 Fr. The obstructed ureter may distend to perhaps a centimeter at its widest point, but usually it is less than that and is often tortuous in nature.  Additionally the cause for ureteral obstructions is often calcium oxalate uroliths which may become embedded in the wall of the ureter making removal impossible, and also making passage of a stent around the stone quite challenging.  Another cause of ureteral obstruction is a stricture at a previous site of urolith lodgment or urolith removal. Continue reading →