Is It Safe To Ureteroscopy For Kidney Stones Post Chemotherapy?

Posted on Mon, 2 Feb 2015

Question: My sister had CT and PT scans as a part of the follow-up to her chemotherapy last Fall. A kidney stone has shown up in her ureter, though at first they weren't sure what it was. Now her doctor wants to remove it via a ureteroscopy, which requires gen'l anesthesia. She has no pain, no discomfort at all. Why should she agree to this procedure, given that all surgeries have some risk and gen'l anesthesia is never a great thing?

Answered by Dr. Shoaib Khan (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Only if the stone is large

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome.

Thank you for writing to us.

I have gone through your query with diligence and would like you to know that I am here to help. You have a very good question there, and you need to better understand why and what.

Now the answer to your query has no relevance with your sisters history of cancer, and the explanation is that all stones are are categorised into two categories based on their size, simple (not requiring surgery) and complicated (requiring surgery). The cut-off size is 4 mm, and any stones larger than 4 mm in size can easily get obstructed anywhere in the renal tract and cause some serious symptoms.

So the answer to your query sir/ma'am is that a ureteroscopy would only be a good idea if the stone found is more than 4 mm in size. Because if it is, it can cause your sister some significant distress as it grows larger. Whereas a smaller one can easily be passed out without surgery.

I hope I have explained things in a manner best understood by you. Please feel free to write back to me for any further clarifications, I am always here to help.

Best wishes.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar