Percutaneous Dilation of Ureter

Your physician has referred you to the Diagnostic Services Department at United Hospital Center for a Percutaneous Dilatation of a Ureter.

Percutaneous Dilatation of a ureter consists of removal of your nephrostomy catheter and placement of a balloon catheter over a soft guide wire down the ureter to the area of obstruction. A balloon catheter is different from your nephrostomy catheter; a balloon catheter has a balloon on the tip that is inflated and deflated a number of times to relieve the obstruction.

If you are currently not a patient in the hospital, you will be asked to report to the hospital registration department two (2) hours prior to your exam. After registration, you will be escorted to a hospital room where you will be prepared for the exam. An intravenous (IV) line may be inserted into a vein in your arm.

Upon arrival to the Diagnostic Imaging Department, you will be asked to sign a consent form. You will then be placed on a radiographic table. During the procedure anesthesia will be administered to relieve any pain you might experience. After the dilatation is completed, your nephrostomy catheter will be reinserted until a time that your physician feels that it is no longer required.

Once the procedure is complete, you will be taken to the Post-Anesthesia Care Department (PACU) to be watched and evaluated.

Risks involved with this examination include: infection, reaction to contrast medium (x-ray dye), bleeding, perforated ureter, and/or balloon rupture.

Your physician feels the benefits of this procedure outweigh the risks and would aid in the diagnosis of your medical condition.

Please DO NOT eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your scheduled exam. However, you may take your medications with small sips of water, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

LENGTH: Procedure time approximately 2 hours (total hospital time 3-5 hours)

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, tell your doctor and the technologist
BEFORE your exam.