A Comparative Study on Emergency IVU and Conventional IVU for the Diagnosis of Acute Ureteral Colic

Objective To comparatively evaluate emergency IVU (EIVU) and conventional IVU (CIVU) in the diagnosis of acute ureteral obstruction.Materials and Methods IVU was performed in 130 consecutive patients with acute ureteral colic, including 75 males and 55 females with the age of 20～66 years (mean 35.2). The patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 65 cases who received EIVU and ureteral calculus was revealed in 51 cases (78.4%). Group 2 included 65 cases who received CIVU and ureteral calculus was demonstrated in 32 cases (49.5%). Plain CT scanning was performed 24 hours after IVU for patients with radiolucent calculus, which could not be visualized on urograms.Results The detectable rate of ureteral calculi with EIVU was 78.4%, which was significantly higher than that (49.5%) with CIVU (P0.01).Conclusion EIVU can well display the urinary obstruction signs due to ureteral calculus, increasing the detectable rate of ureteral calculi. EIVU should be adopted for patients presented with acute ureteral colic as early as possible.