The Blood Supply of the Human Ureter in Relation to Ureterocolic Anastomosis1

SUMMARY Any method of ureterocolic anastomosis in which the ureter is always divided at the same point, or mobilised for more than 2–5 cm., irrespective of its blood supply, is liable to failure, due to ischsemic necrosis of the ureter, in 10 to 15 per cent, of subjects. As the result of a study of the blood supply of the ureters of fifty cadavers it is suggested that ureters may be safely divided 2 cm. below the point of entry of a pulsating, long, ureteric artery, or in the absence of such, 2 cm. below the bifurcation of the common iliac artery.