What is a stent?
Ureteral stents are soft, hollow, plastic tubes placed temporarily into the ureter to allow drainage around a stone or to speed healing after a stone surgery
When are they needed?
Stents are used for various reasons in patients with kidney stones. They may be placed in patients to help reduce pain from a stone, when infection is present to allow drainage, or when a stone is preventing a kidney from working adequately. Stents are also commonly placed after surgeries for stones, as in ureteroscopy, to allow healing and prevent swelling of the ureter.
How is a stent placed?
Stents are placed during surgery by sliding them over a soft “guidewire” which is placed up the ureter, which is the tube draining the kidney. See a video below of a stent being placed.
How is a stent removed?
Stents can be removed in two different ways. Sometimes, a string is left attached to the end of the stent. This string is allowed to come out of the patient’s urethra, the tube where he or she urinates. The string can be used to pull on the stent and remove it. In cases where a string is not left attached, a small camera called a cystoscope is inserted into the patient’s urethra after numbing medication has usually been administered. The cystoscope is then advanced into the bladder and the stent is grasped with an instrument and removed. See our post on stent removal for a video and more details.
How long can a stent stay in?
In general, most stents should only remain in for no longer than 3 or so months. If a stent is left in too long, it can form stones directly on it, making removal difficult.
What are the symptoms of having a stent?
While some patients with stents have minimal discomfort related to them, other patients will report symptoms that can range from being annoying to being severe enough that the stent has to be removed. These symptoms can include:
- Sensation of needing to urinate
- Seeing blood in the urine
- Bladder spasms
- Burning sensation during urination
- Pain in the back during urination or when moving
- Pain in the bladder
Is there anything that can help reduce the discomfort of a stent?
Different medications may be given to help reduce the discomfort of a stent. The most effective appears to be those from the alpha blocker class of medications including tamsulosin (Flomax) and Alfuzosin (Uroxatral). Other types of medications commonly given for stent discomfort, such as oxybutynin (Ditropan) or phenazopyridine (Pyridium), do not appear to be successful at reducing stent related discomfort in placebo controlled studies. Traditional pain medications are also less successful at reducing stent discomfort.
Hasn’t anyone come up with a better stent?
Research into improving stent designs will hopefully reduce the discomfort associated with them. Innovative stent designs currently being tested include stents embedded with medications to reduce discomfort and stents that dissolve by themselves.
Hi everyone, I just had a cystoscopy with bladder distention with biopsies and dye injected into both my kidneys as my interstitial cystitis has been flared for over a month with no relief, and the doctor had thought the procedure would calm the ic down as it had done for me one year ago when I was initially diagnosed with it, probably due to all the kidney stones I have had the last three years. as it turned out not only was the ic worse but my left ureter was deviated to the point dye couldn’t even get into the ureter so he placed a stent that has to stay in for 4-6 weeks. As I have never had a stent before I did not know to expect but I would rather have a kidney stone then this stent, The last 36 hours have been a nightmare, Im taking Percocet 10/325’s every four hours, Zofran 8 mg po every 6 for nausea, azo 200 mg po every 8 hours for bladder frequency and even valium 10 mg suppositories and none of it seems to help when I pee. I even passed out while urinating the pain is so excruciating and goes from my left flank down to my bladder and even after I finish peeing which isn’t a big amount, then the throbbing flank pain and bladder spasms continue. I take warm baths and have been using a heating pad non stop and when I called my urologist today to ask him if this is normal and to ask what else I can do to help the pain, like is it okay to take ibuprofen too,etc. he told me I just need to learn to live with the pain, I cry everytime I go pee it hurts so bad and I just need to learn to live with it!!! Does anyone have any suggestions on meds or things I can try at home to help, because if I have to deal with this pain the whole time for the next 4-6 weeks, I will lose it. And how am I supposed to go back to work on Monday like this? any advice would be great and so appreciated, this whole experience has been a nightmare and I can’t wait for it to end.
I had a stent put in two days ago. I am 21 weeks pregnant so they could only go off of an ultrasound. Our baby is perfectly healthy and they monitored her during the procedure. Unfortunately, I am in a lot of pain even on pain medicine. I am on Flomax as well. (Once a day) It seems like that has helped a lot of people. I have barely slept and every time I urinate I get sharp pains shooting into my left kidney. The blood isn’t as bad as it was the first day so that makes me feel better. I am currently lying on a heating pad because of the back pain. One of my ribs above my left kidney feels swollen too. I have passed stones before but they were tiny and I was never in this much pain. Has anyone passed a stone while pregnant? I am really hoping it passes the first time. My urologist said I’ll have to have the stent replaced every 2-3 weeks because the stent calcifies quicker when you’re pregnant. I just want to feel better. I don’t care about going to the bathroom frequently; the pain is kicking my butt and I gave birth to our first daughter without an epidural. This is ten times worse and I am not allowed to take anti inflammatory meds.
I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this! I was 35 weeks when I went to the hospital with LOTS of blood in my urine and back pain. All the could do was an ultrasound and they saw that I had a very large stone in my right kidney which is where the pain was. I was put on Flomax and pain meds for 3 days, then stent was put in place to see if I could pass the stone. Total hospital stay was 6 days. 3 days after being released I went in to my OB for my weekly check up and was in tears with pain. He decided with all of the pain I was in, that we would induce the next day. I would by then be 37 weeks and baby was measuring 39 weeks and 7lbs so we felt confident my little one would be fine. Obviously I was still concerned only being 37 weeks but I thought that was best for me and my baby instead of being in excruciating pain and on pain meds for three weeks. Delivered on July 22, 2016 a 6lbs 4ozs healthy baby boy. (This is baby boy # 4 for me and my first baby I delivered with no medicine or epidural. The last 3 I had an epidural) I did feel A LOT better after delivering. 2 weeks after delivering I went to my urologist. CT scan confirmed I had a 7 cm kidney stone. Yes you read that right not millimeter, CM! My urologist had not seen a stone that big in 10 years. On Sept 26, I had PCNL to remove the stone. The doctor realized during surgery that the top portion of my kidney was blocked and couldn’t fish down as stent through the tube so now I’m going in 2 weeks(because my dr can’t get me in before then) to remove The existing stent and place a new stent in the top portion of my kidney to hopefully unblock one of the “poles”. I’ll have to leave the stent in for a week to let the inflammation go down and hopefully the kidney will heal and all will be well. I surely hope they can find some sort of relief for you while being pregnant because I know as I continued to grow the pain just got worse daily. I wish I had better news. 🙁
I’m so sorry you are dealing with stones while pregnant. I had four kids and have a history of kidney stones and bladder issues. With my first pregnancy, I was hospitalized 3 times with stones, with my second pregnancy twice with stones, and with my third pregnancy once with stones. By the fourth pregnancy, apparently my body figured out how to manage for 9 months without putting me through the hell of stones. I’m not sure I have any great advice on medications because I’m guessing there are better ones than what I was given. Just wanted you to know that you aren’t alone. Those cute babies are worth it!
Hi everyone, I have severe interstitial cystitis from all the kidney stones I have had the last few years and after a month long severe flair up with no relief from pain meds, dmso bladder instillations and even valium suppositories, my doctor and I decided that a cysto with bladder distention would help calm down the ic, and so yesterday I went in to have the procedure done not knowing I would wake up with a stent in my left ureter, apparently it had become so strictured, the doc couldn’t even get dye to inject in the ureter,and the stent has to stay in for 4-6 weeks. I have never had a stent before and I am in so much pain, mu kidney and bladder hurt so bad I cry at times and when I pee I am on the verge of passing out it is so painful and I am not able to pee a lot, is this normal? also on top of the horrendous pain when I pee, I feel the urge to go poop when I pee but nothing happens, at what point should I be concerned? I am taking pyridium 200 mg po every 8 hours, Zofran 8 mg po every 6 hours for nausea, Percocet 10/325 every 4 hours and using heating pad as well. Has anyone else experienced this while having a stent, I am so ready to be done with this stent, I would rather have another kidney stone!
Yesterday I went back in for a second ureteroscopy. Once again the doctor was unable to break the stone. He put a new stent in, this time with the two strings hanging out the front. LOL Got to be real careful not to pull on them unintentionally and have the stent laying on the floor. not good.
This one’s not bothering me at all. And finally the pain when urinating is gone, the day after. No blood either, YET!
Hello! I hope everyone is feeling better
I have a question for advice I have had a stent in for 5x weeks, I have a 6mm kidney stone
Tried to pass it on me own, went for a xray they said the can’t find the stone and it could b hidden?
Would I have known I passed it? I didn’t see anything
But I am concerned because I did a urine analise on my self and I had a lot of blood in the urine
Not sure if this is okay docs aren’t helping much
Thank you!!
I got 2 stents put in a few weeks ago and my left side just hurt i am in pain with the one on my left side is that normal?
I had 2 stents put in 3 months ago and I hurt for about a month, I debated on having them taken out but finally the pain got better. But they also had to stretch my ureter.
This post really helped me.
Also check out these 10 Sure Symptoms of Kidney Stones so you could stay safe.
http://www.viralflips.com/10-sure-symptoms-confirm-you-got-kidney-stones/
I had an operation to split a kidney stone blocking the passage to the left kidney – an emergency in Turkey. Excellent private hospital. But the surgeon said it must be removed in two weeks. Not hearing from Urology, I checked with my doctor who said three months max. Checked back and was told month max.
In the meantime I’ve had to get the number to contact Urology direct from my doctor. The person promised to contact, didn’t, said I could be looking at one month. After a month I got an appointment – not stated for stent removal, incidentally – for 12 December.
In the meantime, I have blood in the urine, painful stomach aches (often after exercise) and constant need to pee. Drinking lots of water does help and the doctor confirmed I don’t have another infection. But this is bad. Doctor says Urology Depts are woefully understaffed all over the country.
If it goes on like this, I may have to fork out for private treatment I can’t really afford. This is a familiar story.
Had a stent put in left kidney on September 1st…2 weeks later he blasted it to pass…its been 19 days with stent in and got a UTI, high fever and throwing up this weekend. Another surgery in two days to put stent in right kidney. Constant blood in urine, pain, weak, fatigue and nauseousness…I would rather give birth over and over again! It’s the most awful thing ever. I don’t know why the stent has been left in for so long. I’m going to beg to doctor to only leave stent in for a week.
My doctor told me not to lose any sleep over the blood in the urine, it’s just typical of a stent in place. They move around some, and I guess chafe a little on the inside of the ureter.
I had pain due to the stent until yesterday, 14 days with the stent in. Seems to be gone today.
The weak, fatigue and nauseousness could be due to kidney failure. You really need to keep in contact with your urologist about that. Those are symptoms of kidney failure. I’m no expert, but that’s what I’ve read, right here on this site.
I’m in terrible constent pain with mine and I only got it in the morning. I can’t even take a nap. I’ve not slept since surgery this morning. I hurt all from my pee hole straight up to my belly button. Its like waves of pain steady hurting but the waves hurt worse.
i had a stent for 7 days and all went good, reseally painful though, but every since its been rremoved about a week later i;ve been having sharpe pain on left side , and a pulling burning sensation at times, is this normal , my stent came out aug 5-2016, and still have sharpe pains, could my kidney be inflammed or what?
I just had a stent place today, the frequent need to urinate is crazy. Does this settle down at all? I’m going to the toilet about every 2 mins.
Mine’s been in two weeks. The need to pee the first two days was pretty constant. It gradually settled down some, but not completely until yesterday. I was typically going every thirty minutes or so for most of that time. I found that if you sit like a statue, the need passes. It occurs when you’re active.
It happens because when active, the curl on the stent inside your bladder, does a tap dance on the interior of your bladder, stimulating your bladder and making you need to pee.
Supposedly there is medicine you can take for “over active bladder”. Ask your doctor about it if it doesn’t settle down soon.
As of yesterday, I’m finally being able to hold it again. So not going to take the medicine. Next Thursday he’ll pull the stent, try again to get the stone out, then insert another stent for another three weeks. Lovely!
For me the sensation does not go away with out meds. This is the 5th time I have had a stent for kidney stones and the medicine helps a lot. Ask your doctor. I take Visicare once daily and Uribel every 4 hours
I try to get as much bed rest as I can. Also, I use heating pads and place it on my bladder, it does wonders!
I have had a stent inserted 2 days ago , and I still have a catheter, when standing and feel like I need to pee I get a very bad pain in the left side of my back almost unbearable, is this normal
Yes, the pain can be from the Irvine not completely draining and flishjnhbback up to your kidney. Usually flomax helps with this but I’ve never had a catheter with the stent.
Had a stint placed yesterday. It had a string attached that appears and disappears. Most of the time, it disappears. Is that normal?
I wonder about that myself. It’s been nine days and still have to pee a lot more frequently than I’ve ever needed to before. And when I have to pee, it’s URGENT. Like “Get out of my way, got to pee!!!” It’s frustrating as he–. One minute nothing. The next got to pee urgently.
And, like I read on another site, although the stent does not stop sexual function, it’s definitely not as enjoyable as it always has been. Sometimes have to stop and pee right in the middle of the act. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!
Two more weeks, than he goes in and tries a second time to get the stone out. Puts in a new stent for another three weeks. This sucks big time!!!!
Hi
I had an operation on my 3mm kidney stone yesterday and I’ve got a stent put in, is it normal that I keep wetting myself.
I had a big wee in hospital but ever since I feel like I need to go but it’s just drips, then I stand up I’m wet again. Is this normal to happen.
Is it ok to have sex or masterbates with a stint In
Yes but be gentle on your penis. There do not seem to be official guidelines but I gave it a week or so after JJ stent insertion and was fine although it felt weird. If you are on tamsulosin, you may find little or no semen coming out which is a known side effect of the drug.
I had a stent inserted yesterday along with a catheter. the catheter was removed today. I cannot “hold it in.” As soon as i have to urinate, the urine passes. Is this caused by the stent or did the catheter cause my bladder muscles to be weak?
SYMPTOMS PRIMARILY CAUSED BY CATHETERIZATION! DON’T WORRY .. IT WILL START TO SUBSIDE IN A FEW WEEKS BUT WILL CONTINUE UP UNTIL THE STENT(S)/STONE(S) ARE REMOVED. FULL CONTROL ATTAINED AFTER THAT!! JUST GOT MINE REMOVED SEP.8 !! GOD BLESS&GOOD LUCK!!
11
Got a stent placed in my right ureter today. Don’t feel a thing. No pain at all. The first couple of pees were quite painful, but I was warned about it before hand. Been in many hours now, and the only ting I’ve noticed is I’m peeing a lot more than normal., which I assume to be my right kidney draining all the stuff that’s been stuck in it for more than a month.
We”ll see with time I guess.
its very normal ive had 4 stent and it does that
Hi, I had my stent put in on June 23, 2016 due to 13mm septic kidney stone blocking my left kidney. I was quite sick from this & it seem to come on very fast, although I realize a stone this size wouldn’t just become this big in days. I’ve been miserable since then with flank & back pain, pain while peeing, feeling the urge to pee 24/7, blood in urine, going to washroom at least 25 times a day…just miserable. I recently had a CT scan and a different urologist told me they couldn’t see the stone any longer. The urologist did say it’s possible the stone could be hiding behind the stent but he had know way of knowing without seeing my other CT scan as it’s at another hospital. Is it possible to pass a 13mm stone with the stent but not feel any of the wicked pain involved with immediate relief afterwards that’s usually involved when passing a stone?
There is no way! Anything over 3mm is actually considered to be too large for a ureter to pass on through. So if you had a 13mm stone, then you may have been on flomax, or another, same class of medication, that can reduce pain, alpha blockers, and reduce the size of the stone considerably! So much so that the stent nay have covered it, and when they removed /remove the stent it can & will slide out!
Hi Paula, I’ve had a Stent in my left kidney for two weeks now and I’m having alot of pain when passing urine. I get alot of blood in the urine and burning and my operation isn’t till the 27 sept to have Stent removed and stone (11 mil ) lazered. So over the pain & sickness?
Are you drinking a lot of water? Like 12-17 cups a day? When I don’t drink enough water, it hurts to urinate. Not the case at all when I drink a lot of water. Also, flomax helps a lot.
Tricia, I’m in the exact same boat you are in! Just had my surgery and this pain is the worst I’ve ever felt! Stent will be removed in three weeks! I’m supposed to be discharged from the hospital today but I don’t know what pain meds I will be sent home with, but God knows it better be strong! This pain is incredible!!
My stone was 15mm (with sepsis too) and I don’t believe that could hide behind the stent which is very thin. A simple x-ray should show them the stone. They tried shock wave therapy on me but it didn’t work. Doctor ended up going IN my kidney and lasering it; took him 2 hours. While I didn’t have blood in urine (thankfully), the stent drove me crazy with the constant urge to pee…only ‘relief’ I felt was sitting on the toilet. He removed the stent (yay) 4 days after the stone lasering. Now, 2.5 weeks later I have a kinda yeast infection feeling, but a tiny little blood at the tip of my urethra, and some pain on the other side. Did ultrasound, but no results call yet 3 days later. But you should feel immediate relief once he/she takes the stent out. Good luck
It’s been 4 days the stent is placed in the ureter. The blood still coming out. Initially, I had burning feeling while passing urine out, but now it’s gone after taking medication.
I also have the same question on blood loss as well.
Blood is normal part of a stent, the stent is actually removing infection (which may have blood in it) OR one of the “pig tail ends” may be irritating either kidney or bladder enough so that either one could becoming chaffed or chapped kinda and getting big or little “blood sores”. Every time I have a stent I urinate blood, sometimes starting to urinate blood just after stent is placed in.
Also I have had 6 stents, and 29 kidney stones in Las 2 years, so I kinda got it down pat! I just been trying to figure out how i have 2 livers, and if these are the cause(s) for my “rock garden” that I continue to grow!
Hi,
My stone is in ureter. After uteroscopy last week. Dr. could not reach to the stone as the stone stuck within cells. So he placed the stent. Just wondering how long stent will take to make the enough space so that it can come out next time
Hi Chris I have had my stent for4 weeks and had what looked like large amounts of blood for 2 weeks. I have just visited my gp and had urine tests done and there was blood in it that was not seen by the naked eye.
Hope this helps you.
Kate
I had a stent place today after removal of distal ureter stone. I was instructed to remove it in 5 days. Can I get into a pool or hot tub while wearing the stent or does that increase the risk of UTI? I’m a male patient.
Hello, I got my stent 6 days ago and then left for a business trip to Germany, so I can not contact my Doctor.
My question is on blood loss… There is a constant presence of blood in my urine. I’m interested to know how to guage when Ineed to be concerned with my body’s upkeep with making blood. When is too much blood “too much”? My stent comes out in 10 days, I was told to expect blood in my urine untill then.
Is this normal?
Hi,
I,ve just come out of hospital with stent in left side.and am peeing blood constantly. My query is ,I am due to fly out of country in10 days time. Is it ok to fly?
Everything I’ve read says it’s ok to fly. Check with your doctor to be Sure. First, Are you taking flomax and ibuprofen to keep inflammation down? I had a stent placed on sept 15. Had blood in urine and was very painful/uncomfortable for 2 days. Now the amount of blood has subsided and the pain has moved from a 7 to a 2. I noticed less pain when I started up the flomax again. Try it. And my dr said to keep up with the ibuprofen for 4 days (2-400mg 3 times a day)
Also, drink a lot of water, about 17 cups a day if you can. I have less pain during urination when I keep up my water drinking. If I don’t drink enough, it stings when urinating.