A complex disease in which stones descend into the ureter, always accompanied by severe pain. This pathology is dangerous for its complications if adequate treatment is not undertaken in a timely manner. Physicians, calling such an ailment ureterolithiasis, give it the second place in prevalence in urological practice. Pathology can be detected in children. Most often it is diagnosed in men. But sometimes stones in the ureter are also found in the fair sex. Symptoms in women usually indicate a severe course of the disease.
Characteristics of pathology
Urolithiasis is a fairly common disease. Its appearance provokes many different factors. Most often, pathology occurs against the background of poor nutrition and poor quality drinking water. Initially, stones are formed inkidneys.
Most patients are unaware of the presence of stones for a long period of time. After all, the signs of the disease do not appear immediately. Meanwhile, stones "grow" in the kidneys. And as a result of certain factors, stones in the ureter can appear.
What are the symptoms in women? This is, first of all, the strongest pain. It indicates renal colic (indicates the lowering of the calculus into the ureter). In such situations, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Penetrating a stone into the ureter
Calculations usually form in the renal pelvis. However, there are cases when stones formed in the ureter. Symptoms in women, treatment - these are the points that must be discussed with the doctor. Independent struggle with pathology is completely unacceptable.
So if a stone forms in the kidney, why does it end up in the ureter? This movement can be caused by many different factors. Most often this happens as a result of the following reasons:
- carrying weights;
- long bumpy ride;
- heavy fluid and food intake;
- riding.
It is very important to remember what signs appear if stones are localized in the ureter. Symptoms in women, indicating the advancement of the calculus, manifest themselves in the form of a pronounced pain syndrome. Acute discomfort appears in the abdomen and back. This condition is called renal colic.
Reasons for appearanceailment
Ureteral stones are formed from various substances:
- uric acid;
- cystine;
- calcium phosphate;
- struvite.
Most often the following factors influence the process of stone formation:
- Genetic predisposition. Doctors say that the disease is more often diagnosed in patients who have cases of urolithiasis in the family.
- Impaired outflow, stagnation of urine. The development of the disease may be based on congenital pathologies. Most often, the disease is provoked by narrowed ureters in women, their underdevelopment, kinks or anomalies of the bladder.
- Diseases of the urinary tract in a chronic form. Diseases of an infectious nature can lead to the development of pathology. For example, pyelonephritis.
- Disturbed exchange. Acquired or congenital ailments may be accompanied by the penetration of lithogenic substances into the urine - calcium (if hyperparathyroidism is diagnosed), urates (in case of gout).
- Diseases of the digestive system. If the suction function is impaired, stones may form.
- Medication use. Some medications can lead to the development of the disease. For example, uroseptics from the category of nitrofurans provoke such consequences.
Doctors say that uroliths often form in women living in hot and dry climates. A high-calorie food rich in animal proteins is capable of launching the mechanism for the development of the disease.
Symptoms of disease
There are times when the worst pain is notcause stones in the ureter. Symptoms in women that characterize the movement of the calculus are completely dependent on its size and shape. Stones that do not exceed 2 mm in diameter are able to move painlessly along the ureter. In this case, no symptoms may be observed. A woman will not even know about an unpleasant pathology in the body.
But most often there are large stones in the ureter in women. Signs of pathology provokes stuck calculus.
In this case, the symptoms are pronounced and are called renal colic:
- Sharp, severe pain localized in the lumbar region. She gives women in the perineum and labia.
- May interfere with urination. But such a sign is observed extremely rarely and characterizes the simultaneous exit of stones from both ureters. Most often, women experience frequent urge to urinate.
- In the urine there is blood and the inner epithelium of the kidney. Such symptoms appear as a result of damage to the ureter by the sharp edges of the calculus. If the stone has completely blocked the path, then there will be no such sign, since urine flows only through the normal, unaffected ureter.
- Hanging sweating, chills. There is an increase in temperature to 37–37.5 degrees. Pathology may be accompanied by nausea, flatulence, and often vomiting.
The calculus, as a rule, periodically advances. This leads to the fact that the painful symptoms in a woman either appear or disappear. Such colic can be annoying for hours or days.
Symptomatics of the pathology, depending on the location of the calculus
Most often, the calculus is found in the place of narrowing of the ureter. This is the area where the renal pelvis connects to the canal. This area is called the pyeloureteral segment. The next area in which a stuck stone is often diagnosed is the area where the ureter passes from the large pelvis to the small one. Another "dangerous" area is the connection of the canal with the bladder.
If the calculus clogs the ureter in the upper zone in women, the symptoms are as follows:
- severe pain appears in the lower back;
- acute discomfort is undulating, then subsiding, then intensifying;
- changing body position does not reduce pain intensity;
- discomfort covers the side of the abdomen.
The following signs testify to the localization of the stone in the middle zone of the canal:
- pain is acutely felt in the lateral region of the abdomen (below, along the edge of the ribs);
- discomfort extends to the groin and iliac.
If the calculus has descended into the lower part of the ureter, then the woman's symptoms appear as follows:
- pain is localized in the lower abdomen and groin area;
- severe discomfort covers the outer labia;
- more frequent urination;
- there is a feeling of fullness of the bubble;
- the process of urination does not bring relief (feelingsemptying does not appear).
Possible Complications
It is very dangerous if there are stones in the ureter for a long time. Symptoms in women, treatment of pathology require a serious and responsible attitude.
Otherwise, severe consequences may develop, such as:
- hydronephrosis;
- acute renal failure;
- ureter fistulas;
- obstructive pyelonephritis.
Diagnostic Methods
To make sure that severe discomfort is provoked by the movement of the calculus through the ureter, the doctor will conduct an initial examination. It implies palpation.
Then the patient will be assigned more accurate tests:
- urinalysis, which determines protein, s alts, pus, blood cells;
- back seeding;
- urinalysis to study its acidity;
- radiological examination;
- blood test;
- urography;
- Ultrasound of the urinary tract;
- Kidney CT;
- radioisotope diagnostics.
A complex of such examinations allows you to determine the location of the calculus, identify the sources of the disease and select adequate therapy.
Treatments
If during the diagnosis stones are found in the ureter in women, only a competent specialist can decide how to remove them.
Methods of treatment depend on the complexity of the situation, the size of the calculus. Depending on these factors, they can develop in 2 directions:
- Conservative expectant therapy. It is undertaken in cases where the stone in diameter does not exceed 2-3 mm and does not clog the duct. In this case, the possibility of independent exit of the calculus is high.
- Active treatment. Used when conservative therapy is not possible or has failed.
Medicated treatment
How to remove a stone from the ureter?
Conservative expectant therapy includes:
- Prescription of urolytic drugs. Medicines "Nifedipine" or "Tamsulosin" provide an acceleration of the discharge of calculi.
- The use of painkillers, antispasmodics. Often the patient is recommended NSAIDs, such as Ibuprofen, Naproxen.
- The woman is prescribed physiotherapy and special physiotherapy exercises.
In addition, the doctor recommends that the patient review her diet.
Dieting
Diet therapy will be of particular benefit. It is based on the exclusion from the diet of foods that contribute to the formation of stones in the body, and recommends increasing the intake of foods that accelerate the removal and dissolution of stones.
To provide such advice it is necessary to:
- Refuse food containing oxalic acid (kale, spinach, nuts, currants, legumes).
- The above food should not be combined with calcium-rich dairy products.
- Include foods rich in vitamin A (broccoli, carrots, pumpkin) in your diet.
- Every week arrangefasting day (watermelon or cucumber).
- Set up a drinking regimen. Drink about 2 liters of water daily.
Why do you need specialist help?
Sometimes the above conservative therapy is ineffective, and stones in the ureter are still diagnosed. Symptoms in women, stone removal is important to discuss with a professional urologist. It is strictly forbidden to fight the disease on your own.
Self-treatment can lead to rather sad consequences. Among these complications, urinary tract infection often appears. And this is a direct path to the development of sepsis. Unfortunately, in advanced situations, the patient may even be assigned to remove the ureter, and sometimes the kidney.
Surgery
The most commonly used methods to remove a stone stuck in the ureter are:
- Lithotripsy. The most efficient way to crush stones. At the same time, it is less traumatic. Lithotripsy involves the remote crushing of stones using waves. The event lasts about 1 hour on average. It is carried out in most cases without anesthesia.
- Ureteroscopy. Such removal of the calculus is carried out using a special device inserted into the canal through the genitourinary system. Sometimes, before the introduction of the ureteroscope, the stones are pre-crushed by a laser. The intervention is performed under general or partial anesthesia.
- Ureterolithotomy. This is a surgical intervention that is justified with sufficiently large stones. During such an operation, the calculusremoved through incision in the walls of the ureter. Of course, the procedure involves general anesthesia.
Stones in the ureter is a serious pathology in which it is extremely dangerous to delay a visit to the hospital. The disease refers to severe ailments, which can lead to disastrous results. Therefore, do not practice self-disposal of stones. Seek help from competent specialists.
