What is ureterolysis?

[hannah11]

Hey everyone,

I'm having surgery next week (!) and the notes say I'm having 'Laparoscopic excision of endometriosis, +/- ureterolysis'

What is ureterolysis? No one discussed this with me!

[Hidden]

Hmmm... The internet says...

Ureterolysis is a surgical procedure aimed at exposing the ureter in order to free it from external pressure or adhesions or to avoid injury to it during pelvic surgery, most often hysterectomy.

[hannah11 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for this! Brain fog was making googling it really overwhelming so this helped a lot.

I'm wondering if this is a common step with laparoscopies or if it's something my doctor thinks I specifically need.

[Hidden in reply to hannah11]

Hi Hannah, I completely understand about brain fog - I get that too. 🙂

I'd guess your doctor suspects that your ureter may be covered by an adhesion, and wants to make sure to protect it.

The reason I'd take this guess is that I know this is the case for me (adhesion over ureter), and I was wondering what they would suggest for my case - I know the ureters are very delicate and hugely important (connect kidney to bladder).

So, I don't know how common it would be, but it seems sensible to keep your body in good working order... of course, I'm just a patient myself, trying so hard to understand all of this. This is a crazy way to be learning about our anatomy, but, here we are! 😂

[hannah11 in reply to Hidden]

Oh no sorry this is the case for you too! What are your symptoms relating to this (if you don't mind sharing?)

And hahaha you're totally right. We get a whole anatomy course for free from having this disease!

[Hidden in reply to hannah11]

Hi, I have stage IV endometriosis, so I'm not sure which symptoms relate to which issues. I have general pelvic pain, a sharp pinching pain in the lower left side (appendix?), and pain with bowel movements. I really can't say what an adhesion over the ureter specifically feels like, but it might be part of the general dull pelvic pain.

[Eternalwarrior]

Hi Hannah,I had my laparoscopy for excision of endometriosis in March and although my pre-surgery notes only said 'laparoscopic excision of endometriosis and treatment of endometriomas', when I came out of surgery, the surgeon came to talk to me and explained that although my MRI hadn't shown all my lesions, my ureter (amongst other things!) was covered with endometriosis and they had to do ureterolysis on my left ureter.

All best wishes with your surgery next week!

[hannah11 in reply to Eternalwarrior]

Thank you so much for sharing! I hope your recovery is going well. How are you doing?

[Eternalwarrior in reply to hannah11]

Hi Hannah, Mine has been a long journey (I was undiagnosed for so many years...), but I am now 7.5 weeks post-surgery and I can say that it has been totally worth it! The recovery took much longer than I expected (I was signed off sick for 4 weeks in the end) but I can start to have a more normal life again, which I never thought I would. I will probably need to have surgery again in the future, but for the time being, I am enjoying the pain relief I got after my surgery.

I hope your surgery goes really well next week and think there is hope at the end of the tunnel Good luck!