Impacted urethral stone in a female: case report

Abstract

Aims: To present a case of impacted urethral stone in a female. Presentation of Case: A 32-year-old female presented at the Family Medicine clinic with a history of external urethral meatal pain and a foreign body in her external meatus of one hour duration. She noticed that the stream of her urine was poor and she developed severe pain in her external urethral meatus after micturition. On physical examination at the clinic, general and abdominal examinations were normal but it was discovered that she had an impacted stone in her external urethral meatus. The stone was extracted with the aid of a curved hemostat after copious lubrication with 2% lidocaine jelly. Discussion: Urethral calculi are uncommon and they account for approximately 1% of all urinary tract stones. Urethral calculi are rarely seen in females but do occur in males. Majority of urethral calculi migrate down into the urethra from the upper urinary tract and bladder and are rarely formed primarily in the urethra except those that occur secondary to abnormalities in the urethra. Conclusion: Urethral calculi are extremely rare in female patients with no associated genitourinary abnormality. Urethral calculi must be kept in mind in female patients who complain of a poor stream of urine, urinary retention, severe pain in the external urethral meatus and palpable mass around the urethra.