Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy (URSL) on ureteral calculi and the effect on serum CRP, IL-1, TNF-αlevels. Methods Retrospective analysis of clinical data of patients with upper ureteral calculi from February 2015 to October 2016 in our hospital was performed. All patients were divided into ureteroscopy lithotripsy group (URSL group) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy group.The general situation of the two groups were observed. The levels of serum inflammatory factors, urinary function and quality of life were compared between the two groups before and after operation. Results The operation time and hematuria time of URSL group were shorter than those of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (t=27.415, 12.018, P<0.001). The stone free rate was higher than that in the percutaneous nephrolithotomy group.The level of inflammatory factors in the two groups had no difference before treatment, after treatment, the level of CRP, TNF-α, NF-κB alpha and IL-1 of the URSL group were lower than those of percutaneous nephrolithotomy group. The IPSS score of patients in URSL group was lower than that of percutaneous nephrolithotomy group at 1 month and 3 months after operation, and Qmax was higher than that of percutaneous nephrolithotomy group.There was no difference in quality of life between the two groups before operation. After operation, the quality of life score of URSL group was higher than that of percutaneous nephrolithotomy group in the 3 months after operation. Conclusions URSL has a good effect on the treatment of upper ureteral calculi, it can reduce postoperative serum CRP, IL-1, TNF-αlevel, im- prove the quality of life. Key words: Ureteral Calculi; Nephrostomy, Percutaneous; Ureteroscopy; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; Interleukin-1; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha