title: The management of urinary calculi in pregnancy.
abstract: When a pregnant patient presents with a urinary calculus, the customary investigations and management must change in order to take into account the well-being of the developing fetus. Transabdominal or endovaginal ultrasound should be the initial imaging modality used in order to establish the diagnosis. A plain abdominal X-ray, limited intravenous pyelography, or retrograde pyelography is used secondarily if a definitive diagnosis is lacking. The treatment of first choice for urolithiasis in pregnancy is conservative, because 70-80% of stones will pass spontaneously. If conservative management fails, or in cases of sepsis, obstruction of a solitary kidney, or bilateral ureteric obstruction, then surgical intervention is indicated. Traditional surgical management consists of draining the obstructed collecting system with a ureteral stent or percutaneous nephrostomy tube with definitive treatment of the stone in the post-partum period. Ureteroscopic lithotripsy and stone extraction is another option that has been used safely and reliably with increasing frequency in many centers. Despite recent reports of using extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy, this treatment is still considered contraindicated in pregnancy.
authors: Division of Urology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Evans
authors: T A
authors: TA
authors: Wollin
mesh_terms: D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009403:Nephrostomy, Percutaneous; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D015607:Stents; D018666:Ureteroscopy; D014545:Urinary Calculi / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*