Intra-ureteric placement of a urinary catheter in the previously undiagnosed duplex ureter.

We report the inadvertent insertion of a urinary catheter into the upper moiety ureter of a duplex kidney, in a full-term pregnant woman prior to an emergency caesarean section. The patient complained of severe pain during inflation of the catheter balloon. All measures to deflate the balloon and remove the catheter failed. Retrograde ureteric contrast examination showed the placement of the catheter in the proximal part the right upper moiety ureter of a duplex ureter. The catheter was removed with ureteroscopic forceps. We concluded that congenital variation of the urinary tract can complicate a simple catheterisation.