New techniques for stenting severely strictured or occluded ureters.

Percutaneous stenting of the severely strictured ureter is facilitated by catheterization through a rigid curved tube leading through the kidney. Alternatively, bidirectional traction tensioning of a guide wire pulled through the entire urinary tract permits antegrade dilatation and stent drainage. Complete occlusion near the ureteric orifice may be bypassed by transureteral puncture of the bladder followed by stent insertion.