This video demonstrates a ureteral jet.

Ureteral jets are the normal ejection of urine from the ureter into the bladder due to calyceal persistalsis. They are often seen during routine ultrasound of the bladder. You see a short burst of echoic material from about the 4o’clock position on the transverse image of a bladder (at the location of the vesicoureteral junction). The direction of a normal jet is anteromedial and upward as in this video.

In adults, the absence of jets or low-continuous jets in an otherwise well hydrated patient may indicate unilateral ureteral calculi (obstruction).¹ Studies are being done to understand how different velocities of this jet may have clinical significance in children, including use in conjunction with voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) to diagnose types of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR).^{2, 3} Doppler waveforms in obstructive uropathy have shown slower average jet velocity, shorter duration and decreased frequency. ⁴ Its use in the ED is probably limited to evaluation of acute ureteral obstruction from renal calculi.

1.Burge, H. J., Middleton, W. D., McClennan, B. L., & Hildebolt, C. F. (1991). Ureteral jets in healthy subjects and in patients with unilateral ureteral calculi: comparison with color Doppler US. Radiology, 180(2), 437-442.

2 Jequier, S., Paltiel, H., & Lafortune, M. (1990). Ureterovesical jets in infants and children: duplex and color Doppler US studies. Radiology, 175(2), 349-353.

3.Novljan, G., Levart, T. K., Ključevšek, D., Kenig, A., & Kenda, R. B. (2010). Ultrasound detection of vesicoureteral reflux in children. The Journal of urology, 184(1), 319-324.

4. Wu, C. C. (2010). Ureteric Jet. Journal of Medical Ultrasound, 18(4), 141-146.