Kidney Disorders Community

Duplicate ureters are more common than you might think, probably somewhere around 1% of the global population. There are a lot of individual variations, for example whether the duplicate ureters both connect to the bladder or fuse back into a single ureter before attaching to the bladder.

Probably the biggest problem that results would be frequent or recurrent urinary infections, since one is almost always larger than the other, the urine flow tends to take the easier, larger path. So there might be little flow through the smaller one ot keep it flushed out.

But if you are not getting an unusual number of verifiable urinary infections, then the duplicate ureter might not be related to the pain on the left side.

About the only thing that can be done for a problematic duplicate ureter would be to remove the extra segment or 'tie it off' but this isn't always a perfect fix, and until one of your docs has a better idea of the actual cause of the pain, it might not be wise to jump at surgery too quickly. Good luck.

I am a female who was diagnosed with ureteral duplication as a young child (am now 26), and had surgeries to remove (or tie off, I'm not sure) the duplicate ureters at age 4 and 5. My mom recalls that my obvious symptom was informing her that small amounts urine-like discharge was present when I wasn't trying to urinate. I never had any urinary tract infections that I'm aware of.

I have long 7-8 inch scars on both sides of my abdomen from the surgeries. Nowadays, I hear that a similar surgery is done arthroscopically and causes only small "scope" scars. I have had zero symptoms since those surgeries over 20 years ago.

I don't know if you've had a reply but wanted to share my experience with this. After a few recurring UTI's and chronic low back pain last year I discovered through an MRI that I also have a double ureter. Mine is on the right side so most of my symptoms are the opposite of yours. I have done only minimal research into the probability of occurrence (it's about 0.2 % for complete ureter duplication and 0.6% for the form of duplication that creates a "Y" with 2 ports leaving a kidney but merge before entering the bladder. Also, it's most frequent in women) of this but have taken some significant measures to help alleviate some of the problems I think are caused by this - particularly the frequent UTI's. Most of my measures have been in the form of dietary adjustments. I'm a fairly health conscious eater but went a few extra steps and have cut out coffee, chocolate and refined sugar as well as dairy. This may seem drastic but I eat plenty of vegetables and whole grains. I'm not a vegetarian but don't eat a lot of meat. My back pain is nearly gone and I have had no more UTI's. Don't know if this helps.

I have a double ureter and have a history of kidney stones. I passed a large one, which shocked my MD when he saw how big it was. I recently had a more serious stone attack and needed to have it surgically removed. The urologist explained that, because of the double ureter, I had a stone that sat in one ureter and continued to grow. When the second ureter got blocked by another (smaller) stone, the pain started. Without the double ureter, the first one would have caused pain much sooner and not have gotten to the 12mm size it eventually became. So one issue with a double ureter is that it offers an escape hatch for urine when the other tube is blocked--not necessarily a good thing, as I found out.

I am 30, and have been suffering from multiple UTI's since the age of 17. I too am seen by military doctor's and frustrated with their care. I also have an extra ureter. You are not alone.

Ask for a VCUG test. My daughter, age 23, started having kidney infections a year ago, different doctors ordered a multitude of tests, found duplicate ureter but said it wasn't causing problems. Finally a different doctor ordered VCUG (usually ordered for children, but not adults without previous problems). She had vesicoureteral reflux. Urine backing up into kidneys. Just had surgery a few days ago to reimplant both ureters on that side. tho sometimes duplicate is removed if not working well. Good Luck!

Thank you for your reply, but I had one of those done several years ago. Maybe they will do another one again, after all I was just 17 at the time. Recently, I received a referral for to see a urologist. What is strange about my issues is my infections were almost completely gone while doing a 3 year tour in Italy. During the 3 years we were there I only had 1 UTI. This was significantly less then I had experienced since I began to get them. My first UTI was at the age of 17, and when we moved to Italy I was 26.
Now that we have been in the US for about a year, and a half the problem had started AGAIN! Since Dec 2011 I've had 4 UTI's. My husband, and I are wondering if it could be related to all the chemicals (hormones, antibiotics, steroids, pesticides, ect) that are put into our food. Also I'd like to ask, are there any of you passing air though your urethra? After doing extensive reading we found articles discussing Bladder fistulas. Does anyone have prior experience, or knowledge is this matter? Any advise or suggestions are always helpful. Also, I have found through personal experience that for the pain of the UTI (esp the pressure in the pelvic area) that Horsetail herbs at 440 mg taken two to three times per day, 2 at a time are very helpful. I simultaneously take 1 Uva Ursi 500 mg up to three times a day. And again, thank you for any responses, they are VERY MUCH appreciated! = )

I am a 45yr old man and found out I had a duplex ureter a couple of years ago through having an ultrasound to diagnose frequent uti's and pelvic pain but the doctors ignored it saying it wasnt the cause of my frequent urination and ongoing problems. After nearly 3 years and having every test under the sun done nothing has been found except my duplex ureter yet the doctors dont understand the lack of sleep and frequent urination and poor quality of life it gives me. I am desperate to have an operation to tie it off.
My duplex is where one tube leaves the kidney but two enter the bladder and mine duplicates only a centimetre before it enters the bladder.

For the pain in the pelvic area ask your Dr.if it would be safe for you to use Pyridium which is Phenazopyridine. It worked in approximately 20 mins to relieve my pain, and may turn your urine orange but I'm told the discoloration is harmless. I have cut & pasted the following from the website "WebMD": It relieves urinary tract pain, burning, irritation, and discomfort, as well as urgent and frequent urination caused by urinary tract infections, surgery, injury, or examination procedures. However, phenazopyridine is not an antibiotic; it does not cure infections. Phenazopyridine comes as a tablet or capsule to take by mouth. It usually is taken three times a day after meals. Do not chew or crush the tablets; swallow them whole with a full glass of water. To read more and for sideeffects go to: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000619/#a682231-sideEffects

Correction to previous post. The website I cut & pasted from was "PubMed"

I read your experience and wanted to share mine as well. I also have a complete duplication of my right ureter. I am 31 years old now and have had UTIs since I was a teenager. At the age of 19 I spent 7 days in the hospital due to a kidney infection thats was when through x-rays doctors discorverd the anomaly in my ureters. They said there was no specific treatment for it only surgery. I didn't want surgery at that age. I have UTIs very frequently and antibiotics won't work anymore. A few years ago a friend suggested I drink water with apple cider vinegar in it and it works better than anything I have ever tried. Within half hour pain is all gone. Like you I have just recently looked into my diet and made some changes as well. I have become a pescatarian, I have cut out all meat from my diet. And this has helped a lot too, I try to keep my caffein intake to a minimum. No sodas for me I wish I could cut off coffee but like it too much.

I found out about two years ago thatI have a double tubing on my right kidney which the Urologist stated that it looks like I have two kidneys on one side. The way that they found out is that I kept having excessive blood in my urine. What they also discovered is that with a double ureter when you have to use the restroom, what happens is that the urine goes down one tube and then goes back up the other one which can cause a person with this anomaly to get a lot of UTI's.