Anatokey is the key to Anatomy
ANATOMY ANSWERS
You are not alone in your questions.
When you ask a Question through our “Ask an Anatomy Question” Portal…
We will post some of our common answers here so that others can look through these Q&A’s
Just in case you have the same question as someone else.
Q: What are the 3 constriction points of the ureter & why do they matter?
A: The ureter has 3 main constriction points on its path from the kidney down to the urinary bladder. The ureter is a muscular tube, that transports urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder and it is fairly small in diameter (2-4 mm). Because it is a compressible tube (a tube you could squeeze and close off with your fingers) when something presses on it, or it narrows (for any reason); something like a kidney stone (renal calculus) can get temporarily stuck in the tube causing immense amounts of pain especially at those narrower, constriction points. There are 3 points at which a natural narrowing occurs. I will list them from superior (near the kidneys) to inferior (near the urinary bladder).
Constriction Points:
1. When the renal pelvis narrows into (and becomes) the ureter itself, called the ureteropelvic junction.
2. When the ureter travels over the common iliac vessels (artery & veins), sometimes referred to as crossing the “pelvic brim”
3. At the ureterovesicle junction, the point when the ureter narrows and enters the urinary bladder (called the vesicle in anatomy)
