Ureter/ urinary bladder

• Ureter

  • Pair of muscular, tubular structures that are responsible for transporting urine from kidneys to urinary bladder.
  • Each ureter arises as continuation of renal pelvis at hilum of kidney in posterior abdomen and runs distal into pelvic cavity to enter base of urinary bladder
• Each ureter is approximately 25-30 cm long.
• Course of ureter

  1. ureters leave kidneys posterior to renal vesses
  2. Descend retroperitoneally on anterior surface of psoas major muscle
  3. Crosses genitofemoral nerve and biforcation of common iliac arteries
  4. Enter pelvic cavity: in males it passes lateral to vans deferens snd then runs under ductus deferens near base of blsdder
  5. In females it passes near ovaries and then runs under the uterine arteries
  6. Enters urinary bladder obliquely creating functional valve that prevents backflow of urine
• Blood supply of ureter

  • Upper 1/3: renal arteries
  • Middle 1/3: gonadal arteries (testicular or ovarian arteries)
  • lower 1/3: branches of internal iliac arteries (superior and vesicle artery or uterine artery)
• venous drainage of ureter

  • Venous drainage mirrors the arterial supply and drains into corresponding veins (renal veins, gonadal veins, and internal iliac veins).
• • The ureters receive autonomic innervation from the renal, aortic, superior hypogastric, and inferior hypogastric plexuses.
• Lymphatic drainage of ureters: lateral aortic and iliac node
• Sympathetic supply to ureters: renal, aortic, superior and inferior hypogastric plexus

  Parasympathetic: pelvic splanchinic nerves
• Anatomical constrictions of ureters:

  • lumen is not uniform due to presence of 3 constriction:
  • At pelviureteric junction where renal pelvis joins upper end of uretets
  • Al pelvic brim where it crosses common iliac artery
  • At uretero-vesical junction where ureter enters bladder
• Ureter course