Treatment involves surgical resection of the ureter with reanastomosis to either the renal pelvis or the bladder. Another anomaly associated with the ureter is an ectopic ureteral orifice. Normally, the ureter inserts on the trigone, or the base of the bladder. An ectopic ureter occurs when it attaches to the bladder in an abnormal location. The ureter is usually longer than normal and inserts along an 'ectopic' pathway into the bladder neck, urethra, or vas deferans in males, or the vagina in females.
Symptoms correlate with the location of the orifice.
If insertion is into the bladder, it is unlikely to cause symptoms and seldom creates a problem. Females are affected ten times more often than males. Openings in areas more distal can cause reflux during voiding, and obstruction when not voiding, since the ureter inserts into a closed space. In the male, the most common site of insertion, other than the bladder, is the posterior urethra. This site is above the sphincter so incontinence is not a symptom.