Ureteral Stent Placement
Ureteral Stent Placement
Ureteral stents are thin plastic tubes with holes in them that are placed to ensure that a ureter stays open allowing urine to pass freely from a kidney down into the bladder.
Stents are placed emergently when a kidney is at risk for damage from obstruction or infection in order to allow the free flow of urine. They may also be placed if a patient is having extreme pain from a kidney stone.
Urinary stents are curly at both ends, and one end is placed in the urinary pelvis and the other end is left in the bladder.
Once in place, a urinary stent can be left for a long period of time, up to six months before being changed.
When used for kidney stones or after kidney stone treatment, it may be removed as early as one week after placement. In this case, the stent is used to ensure that the ureter does not spasm or collapse from the trauma of the procedure, and to make sure that the stones stack up and occlude the ureter as they are being passed.
On rare occasions, a thread may be left on the stent that passes through the urethra remaining outside the body in order to allow stent removal without cystoscopy.
Once a stent is in place, patients can carry on with most normal activities as tolerated. Strenuous activity may cause discomfort. If a string is left, precautions should be taken to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and intercourse may be uncomfortable.
Stents without a string attached are removed with a quick, simple office cystoscopy.
Common side effects with stent placement are increased urgency, frequency, blood in the urine,urinary leaking, flank, bladder or groin pain during urination. These are temporary and generally disappear after stent removal.
