Ureteroscopic approach to early postoperative ureteral obstruction in the renal transplant patient.

The ureteroscopic treatment of acute postoperative ureteral obstruction in a kidney transplant patient is presented. This approach was made possible by the use of thin instruments, which do not require predilation, and was chosen in place of antegrade nephrostomy or open surgical access. The concept that the ureteroscope must be adapted to the ureter and its characteristics and not vice versa is stressed. The increasingly widespread availability and use of thin and ultrathin ureteroscopes will ensure that this approach is likely to become the rule rather than the exception in the future.