The Contraction of the Ureter

The nature and cause of ureteral contraction has been studied by many authors, using various methods 1)2). An electro manometer with a sensitive strain gauge has been extensively used for the past about fifteen years to permit a more precise interpretation of ureteral contraction 3J·115l. This paper describes the peristaltic activity and dynamic gradients of both human and dog ureters in vivo. Previous works are discussed on the excised ureter in vitro 6l 7l 8l. MATERIALS AND METHODS The physiological studies on the peristalsis of thirty-five ureters from twenty-one patients with apparently normal upper urinary tracts (15 males and 6 females, ranging in age from 20 to 60) were performed at the level from 5 up to 25 em above the ureteral orifice without water deprivation. Pressure recordings were made using a No. 5 or No. 4 French catheter connected to a strain gauge transducer. A Nihon Kohden twin multipurpose recorder, RM-20, connected to the transducer, was calibrated before each experiment with 40 and 20 mmHg. Zero level was assumed to be at the symphysis pubis. The ureteral catheter, which was kept completely filled with sterile water to avoid disruption of the existing relationship, was passed into the ureter cystoscopically under urethral anesthesia. Peristaltic pressure tracings of twenty-seven ureters from nineteen mongrel dogs (3 males and 16 females weighing 9 to 30 kg) were observed, without food restriction, using a No. 4 French polyethylene catheter. The dogs were secured to a conventional dog surgical table in the supine position under intravenous RAVONAL (sodium 5-ethyl-5-(1-methylbuthyl)-2-thiobarbiturate) anesthesia (25-30 mg/kg), with physiologic saline slowly fed intravenously. Catheters were inserted into ureters of four female dogs using a cystoscope. Both ureteral orifices of eleven dogs were exposed through a suprapubic incision, ili Jli 1¥ :i: Received for publication November 25, 1967. * Presented at the 83rd. Toka i Regional Meeting of the Japanese Urological Association, Nagoya, March 16, 1968.