Abstract: Objective To compare the effect of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy and single incision retroperitoneoscopic ureterolithotomy for upper ureteral calculi. Methods Total 400 cases of upper ureteral calculi in our hospital from January in 2013 to October in 2014 were enrolled and were randomly divided into two groups.The control group adopted minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy,while the observation group adopted single incision retroperitoneoscopic ureterolithotomy.The general information,stone clearance rate and incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Results In the observation group,the operation time was(99.8±21.6) min which was significantly longer than (56.9±19.6) min in the control group(P<0.05).The decreased levels of hemoglobin in theobservation group was (0.4±0.1) g/L which was significantly lower than (0.7±0.2)g/L in the control group(P<0.05).The duration of postoperative naked eye hematuria,postoperative ambulation and hospitalization in the observation group were (0.9±0.4) d,(1.2±0.7) d and (3.6 ±0.9) d,respectively,which were significantly shorter than (3.6±1.3) d,(4.3±1.2) d and (5.4±1.7) d in the control group,the difference was statistical significant(P<0.05).The stone clearance rate in the observation group was 100.0%,which was significantly higher than 95.5% in the control group(P<0.05).The postoperative complications was found in 3 cases(1.5%) in the observation group,which was significantly lower than 20.0% in the control group(P<0.05). Conclusion The single incision retroperitoneoscopic ureterolithotomy for upper ureteral calculi can achieve a better effect as compared with minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy,with a lower incidence of postoperative complications,but the operation time was long.The clinical application value should be focused.