RIRS (retrograde intrarenal surgery): Retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) is a procedure for doing surgery within the kidney using a viewing tube called a fiberoptic endoscope. In RIRS the scope is placed through the urethra (the urinary opening) into the bladder and then through the ureter into the urine-collecting part of the kidney.

The scope thus is moved retrograde (up the urinary tract system) to within the kidney (intrarenal). RIRS may be done to remove a stone. The stone is seen through the scope and can then be manipulated or crushed by an ultrasound probe or evaporated by a laser probe or grabbed by small forceps.

RIRS may be done to remove a stone. The stone is seen through the scope and can then be manipulated or crushed by an ultrasound probe or evaporated by a laser probe or grabbed by small forceps, etc. RIRS is performed by a specialist, an urologist (endourologist) with special expertise in RIRS. The procedure is usually done under general or spinal anesthesia.

The advantages of RIRS over open surgery include a quicker solution of the problem, the elimination of prolonged pain after surgery, and much faster recovery.Retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) is a procedure that is performed to treat kidney stones using a narrow fiber-optic tube with a camera and light source called an endoscope. The endoscope is threaded to the kidneys through the natural opening of the urethra (tube that passes urine out of the body). The endoscope helps your doctor to view the stones in the kidney. Other instruments can be inserted through the endoscope to destroy the stones. The stones can be removed with forceps, evaporated with a laser probe, or crushed and removed using an ultra sound probe.