The current treatment methods for ureteral stones include ESWL, ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy, laparoscopic and open surgery, lithotripsy and medication. The vast majority of ureteral stones can be treated satisfactorily with ESWL and ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy. Patients who fail minimally invasive treatment often require open surgery to retrieve the stone. Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive and can be used as an alternative to open surgery. Both methods can also be used when ESWL and ureteroscopic treatment are contraindicated, such as when the stone is located in the proximal end of a narrow segment of the ureter. There is an ongoing debate about which is more minimally invasive, ESWL or ureteroscopic lithotripsy, and there are opposing views for each method. Although ESWL is more likely to be re-treated than ureteroscopy, it has the advantage of being minimally invasive and does not require anesthesia, and even with the addition of various adjunctive measures, ESWL is still a minimally invasive treatment. On the other hand, in most of the literature, ureteroscopy is considered as a “one-step” treatment performed under anesthesia. Several controlled studies between ureteroscopy and ESWL have been reported in the literature, but most of the focus has been on distal ureteral calculi. Although some of these findings have been confirmed in the literature, a few still believe that ESWL should be preferred for the treatment of ureteral stones due to its minimally invasive nature. In conclusion, it is difficult to determine which of these two approaches is better or worse. For the urologist, the choice of the most appropriate treatment for a patient depends on his experience, the equipment available and the treatment environment. It is important to note that only pure uric acid stones can be lithotripsed by oral lithotripsy, while those containing ammonium urate or sodium urate cannot. For stones showing hypodense shadow on X-ray, ESWL can be tried with the assistance of ureteral catheter or double J tube for localization. uric acid stones can be lithotripsed by local instillation of alkaline drugs under close observation if the catheter successfully reaches the top of the stone during retrograde ureteral intubation for diagnosis and drainage treatment, which is faster than oral lithotriptic drugs.