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.
I would like to share a bit of my experience about my kidney stone and related things. started sudden pain in morning. ambulance was refused as I was told it was not emergency may be emergency is when one has a heart attack. Went hospital in taxi. X-ray done 6mm kidney stone detected with infection. pain killers and antibiotics given and an appointment was booked with urologist in about a month and sent home. the Pain kept coming and could not go to work so had to go back to hospital. They were trying to send me back home but I managed to convince the doctor that I could not take too much time off work also kids dependant on me so.He phoned the urologist and straight I was sent to the main hospital for further check up. The urologist did a CT scan and noticed the stone had changed the position therefore tried to wait a few days for the stone to pass. the pain constantly kept coming some time with a bit longer gaps. Eventually decided to get it removed after 6 days of wait.A uretroscopy was done. The stone was broken and removed. A stent was placed in the ureter.First three days there was plenty of blood in urine with burning and quick urge for urine.Had to drink plenty.Carried a bottle in case the toilet was busy.once the urine was clear things were settle apart from a bit of feel of the stent and when need for passing urine. The stent would put a bit of pressure and sometime a bit of pain when lying down on certain sides.A capsule Tamsulosin Hydrochloride was given to comfort the prostate and the stent but I stopped taking them as I don’t like hormones.
An appointment was made after 3 weeks to get the stent removed. I was too worried as I was told it will be only done under local anaesthesia. Also I thought there might be too much bleeding and pain afterwords.I also did not drive to the hospital thinking that i might not be able to drive back.
Surprisingly it was a very small 5 minutes job.I was given local anaesthesia which stung a bit. Cystoscope inserted which also felt a bit and the stent removed which also stung a bit.I was immediately discharged and was home within few minutes.No pain what so ever afterwords. Today is my 2nd day and I am back to work after 1 day rest.
Thanks
Hey I am 23 year old cancer survivor who has had stents place and my blabber my first surgery was back and may 2014 it is now Oct and I still haven’t had my stents replace I need help finding a doctor to do my surgery with me losing my insurance I just need help any suggests please
I am almost on month 3 of a stent…
Kidney infection in June 2014 then another in August 2014. Doctor did an ultrasound on the second one, kidney stones blocking the ureter. Emergency surgery and urologist told me after that it was the worst kidney infection he’d ever seen and I was definitely going to need another surgery as he did not get it all. Placed a stent.
10 days later, stent removed. That night massive pain, stones moving all over the place, back in the hospital, another ultrasound, second surgery 11 days after the first.
That was August 22. Had a CT scan the beginning of September, stone fragments finally analyzed and diagnosed with a staghorn stone…Lovely 🙂 Another surgery but this is Canada and can’t get it until November 17. So I wait.
I have had the stent since August 22. Really annoying, lots of blood, lots of pain upon voiding, permanently wearing a pad to make up for accidents, peeing drops every 15-30 minutes. Tried a few drugs, they did not help, so decided to put up with it until the next (last???) surgery.
Well! Saturday night felt some stone movement, took some pain meds and ketorolac (yes it helps me get through it, I wish everyone was so lucky) and NOW MY STENT DOESNT HURT ANYMORE. I am peeing like a normal person (bet I could even fill up half a cup!!!!!!!!!!!) and NO BLOOD. I am so happy 🙂
The only thing is………..has anyone got any ideas on why a bit of stones moving around (did not see anything pass) would make the stent stop hurting? I mean almost THREE MONTHS of this damn thing really sucking and all of a sudden it stops because I have some stones shifting?
Is this too good to be true?
Oh, and I am in Canada so my urologist, although perhaps incompetent, is not doing a wack of surgeries to make money etc, I think it really was a bit messy. I still have chunks in there over 1 cm. I don’t understand how someone could miss stuff like that twice but I have never looked in my kidney so not sure 🙂
Thank you to anyone who has any experience like this….I just want to make sure this is not the calm before the storm lol.
Hi Donna,
I am happy to learn that you are pain free.I too have just gone through a procedure,where for 1 week i was told this stone will pass,because it’s below 5mm.Well after 3 trips to the emergency room,the professionals decided it was time to roll up their sleves and go get this stubborn stone.Surgergy was a sucess and now I have a stent in for safety procautions,it’s only been a few days now.Thank You for your support and testimony,Mark <
Good luck Mark! I am glad they went and got it out for you!!! I hope the stent is gone by now and you are pain free.
Donna
Hi Donna:
So very sorry you have gone through so much. Those that have never had kidney stones will ever understand the pain we go through. I live in the US so I’m taking it that Canada has health insurance program that does not allow you to get the number of surgeries you need in the time that you need them. How horrible to have a stent in for so long!
I have had stones since 2003 between 3mm and now 12mm. This last one they used a laser to go up and break since the last lithotripsy didn’t do anything when it was 8mm. They also found a pocket of bacteria which could have been disastrous. This is the first stent I have had (hopefully the last) and it does have a quick burn when I start peeing and then pain in the back area where the kidney is. Not a sharp pain but very uncomfortable. My doctor gave me a prescription for Phenazopyridine which you can get over the counter as AZO (purple pill) but this is prescription strength. She had told me I would probably experience a lot of pain with a stent but so far I have not. AZO (if you have UTI’s) stops the spasms while the antibiotics are doing their job. I am also using Chanco Piedra which means “stonebreaker” but it really does not break up stones. What it does is help relax the ureter once a stone is in there, and, therefore helps the pain. The pain of a kidney stone is not from the kidney stone passing, it is from the urine being held back by the stone and the ureter (which is a strong muscle) stretching and contracting.
Hoping this helps you if you ever have to go through this again. I have no idea why the stones when they have shifted, helped the pain but I’m glad they did.
My best to you and hope you are never bothered with these again!
Susan,
So nice to find out I am not alone in my hatred of stents lol! Our Canadian system is free and good, it just sometimes means a bit of a wait list unless you are super urgent.
I had my surgery on the 19th, I guess it was 2.5 hours of blasting at the leftover stone but no removal to speak of 🙁 My ureter is not in good shape despite 3 months of the stent – it is hard and narrow near the kidney which I guess it should not have been after so long. So I have another freaking stent!!!!!
This one isn’t bothering me yet but my surgeon warned me that I will probably never be able to pass stones nicely and will have to be monitored closely. If I develop more in the future they will have to look at repairing my ureter – has anyone on here ever had that happen before? There isn’t much information available online about it, mostly just for cancer patients.
It truly is nice to find so many people who have suffered with these silly stones, they may not be life threatening but they sure are debilitating!
I am going to look into the drugs you have listed Susan and see if they are available here. Anything to help get through this would be fantastic!!! Thank you so much for posting 🙂
Donna
I have had kidney stones 3 times now that have required hospitalisation. I currently have a stent in as 4 weeks ago I had a large stone but they couldn’t remove it as I had an infection behind the blockage, so currently im waiting to have the stent and stone removed. I have found that I have bad pain then the urge to urinate, finding that I can’t hold on which is a Issue whilst trying to work full time. I have the usual symptoms as above, or discomfort, blood in urine and pain whilst going to the toilet. I have found though if if drink a litre of water the sensation of wanting to go does disappear, so maybe if someone else is having this issue, maybe the same will apply to them. Hopefully I can get in hospital in the next couple of weeks get get the stone and stent removed, luckily our health system in New Zealand is free and of high standard. The operation itself was fine and pain free with a spinal block, but the waiting for the removal is the worst part. Most stones are calcium based, one main thing to help prevent is by drinking lots of water and not letting yourself dehydrate, also lemon juice with water or lemonade helps prevent certain minerals from attaching to each other and forming stones. I am bad at not drinking enough fluid during the day, after this experience things are going to change, plenty of water is your best friend in the fight against future stones.
This is by far the must helpful thread I have been able to find, thanks everyone. I went to the emergency on Oct. 18, 19 and 20th. I just found out I was pregnant (which was planned) but I was having extreme cramping (almost like contractions) and pressure in my pelvis and back. I could not get off the toilet. They were concerned about an etopic pregnancy besides the 1 cm kidney stone they found in my left kidney and said to come back if I was experiencing any pain. I was admitted on Oct. 22 and was having the worst pain of my life in my left side, lower abdomen and back. I was balling my eyes out in the ER I was in so much pain. Over the course of a few days I had 3 ultra sounds. I was told they would operate Wed night or Thursday morning. I fasted all day Thursday and no surgery and them fasted all day Friday and finally had my surgery at 12:30am and they broke up the stone and left a stent in my left kidney for 3 weeks and sent me home the next day. Its been 6 days and I can barely get out of bed I’m still in so much pain. Urinating and having a bowel movement are incredibly painful. I’m I to assume this pain won’t go away until the stent is removed? I just want to feel normal again because I can’t function or go to work feeling like this.
Hi,
I have had a stent put into me today (30th October 2014_) at 9am due to having a 6mm and 3mm kidney stone in my right side I feel fine but the only problem that I have got at the moment is the pee’ing? it burns so bad =( has anyone got any ideas on how to reduce the pain? stent will be coming out in 2 weeks time..
Any tips on anything would be grateful!
Stents suck. They are very uncomfortable. I can get around, it is just everything I do is uncomfortable. I feel like I need to pee all of the time…. or is that an urge to have a BM
My story is I was in the OR with my last stone. Very crowded and I was on a bed in the hallway when a husband brought in his wife who was terminal with cancer and in an unbelievable amount of pain. There was not a bed left, so I gave her mine and went to a chair….. I guess my point is that I bet that woman would certainly trade pain with me. Yes stones are a huge pain but sometimes we need to count blessings because we can say”just be patient and we will get through this”.. she could not say that.
That’s so true. Your a great person for giving her your bed. Bless you.
Thank you for putting things into perspective…..you are a very kind person.
At least a decade ago, my son (about 20 years old) was trying to pass kidney stones and a ureteral stent was placed. He was not told to come back for removal nor did he know that a stent was only temporary. He just learned that the stent should have been removed shortly after the stones passed. For years, he has had pain and difficulty with urination. He needs to see a doctor and probably have surgery but he has no job, no insurance, no resources. He is sick and does not feel well enough to work. A urologist won’t agree to see him without insurance. We are willing to borrow money to pay cash for the physician visit but have still not been able to find a doctor. We are at a loss. Does anyone have guidance or advice?
If he goes to the ER of any county hospital, they cannot refuse to see him.
That doctor was negligent for not following up on removing the stent. You should go back to that doctor and give him the opertunity to make it right. There could be a law suit and he would want to avoid that. Don’t let anybody pull it out through the penis without getting a second opinion because by this time the stent will be like sandpaper an will cause damage. Otherwise, there are teaching hospitals where you can get it done for free or at least on a payout plan.
Thanks to ‘Obamacare’ you have several choices. I do not know what state you live in but he is entitled to obtain health Insurance irrespective of his pre-existing condition. If he falls within a certain income group he is entitled to receive a portion of his premium back as a stipend at the time he selects the insurance policy either through an exchange or other advertised source of coverage in your (his) area. If he falls below the Medicaid cut off, he can get medicaid and the procedure will be free. I suggest calling the local office of HUD (the Department of Health Education & Welfare) which should be able to guide him to the most cost effective method available for him to enable him to get this repaired. It is important to check on the availability of the specialist he needs being a member of the particular plan you choose if you choose an HMO type of plan which may be cheaper but not have the specialists he needs in the area where he resides. If money is tight for you, remember that once you sign up for coverage, if you stop paying for it you will be dropped but the penalties for failing to carry health coverage are not being enforced so you could get him health insurance for only so long as it takes to get him the help and follow up that he needs. I hope this has been helpful to you and wish him (and you) the best, Dwight
I am 9 weeks pregnant and went to the ER on the 17th with a fully blocked right kidney–not sure how big the stone is, as it is still in place. They bypassed it with a stent (had a spinal instead of general anaesthetic due to the pregnancy). The urologist has to wait until my second trimester until the stone can be lasered. However, having the stent makes it fell like I have a constant UTI, it is terribly painful to urinate. I’m on antibiotics just in case but has anyone else had these symptoms with a stent?
While I am not an expert, I think that you should get another opinion. I believe that there is a procedure that uses sound waves (like ultrasound) to break up the stone and enable it to then be passed as it is broken into small pieces. Whether this is advisable due to your pregnancy I am not sure however I doubt that it would have any effect at this early stage of your pregnancy. As I recall when the procedure was described to me, it is a matter of sitting in a tub of warm water and the sound waves are transmitted through it. It may be the kind of procedure that is not readily available so do some research before you give up. I had a kidney stone some years ago and suffice it to say that I would have confessed to anything…lol Good luck, Dwight
Hii. Had a Ureteroscopy on October 14, 2014. Had a kidney stone over a centimeter in left kidney. Dr could not get it all. Now it is 7mm. He put in stent. I go back in two weeks to do it all over again.
Dr. Said after a week I would not know the stent was in there. I know it is because of almost not making to the bathroom. Now it is a week. No more accidents. Pain and spasms are unbearable from stent. Unbearable shooting spasms as peeing and pooping. (Sorry but can’t think of another way to word that). It last a few seconds but feels longer. I would equate it to an orgasm but not as much fun.
WARNING.. TMI.
This is what was happening to me a few days ago. When the feeling hit and I made it to the bathroom, it just explodes. Luckily the toilet has caught it. I had to send my husband out for serenity pads (incontinence ). Thank goodness because would have been a disaster and embarrassment. Didn’t make it this time. Looks like the pad caught it. The Dr. Said the stent would make it feel like I had to run to bathroom. But I am running to bathroom and not making it.
Has anyone had that problem? How long did it last. I guess I will call the Dr. On Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday is a week that the surgery/procedure was done.
I really don’t know how I will be able to do this again in two weeks.
Oh, I was sent home with a catheter for 24 hrs. That was fun. To add to the problem. , I’m disabled. Running to the bathroom with a cane and exploding bladder is no easy feat.
So, my question is…… Has anyone had urine leaking or exploding out with the stent . When did the pain go away in the vaginal area. Numbing quick throb immediately after urination?
Now it feels like the stent is hanging down too far. I don’t feel a string or anything. Just painful spasms. If not for that the stent being there I would be fine. It has to stay In until the next Urethrascopy. ( can’t spell that for my life). I suffer with failed back surgery pain and take two strong pain meds. None of them touch the stent pain.
I thought was there a way to pee without bearing down on everything.
Thanks for listening to my whining.
Thanks for all your help .
7mm is approximately .275 of an inch…he should have kept at it…having you return to do what he could have done then is just an excuse to charge you or your insurance company more money. What method did he use to break it up? The size of the stent is probably about the same as the stone…Ask him what the benefit to you is by waiting…I’d get another opinion.
Came here for info on stents. I have a 20mm x 20mm x 7mm kidney stone in my left kidney. Getting lithotripsy and a stent next week. Not really looking forward to the process. But it’s better than surgery because I’m a stay at home mom (only 29) with baby’s at home to care for.
For a series of articles on the use of sound to break up kidney stones making them much easier to remove go to:
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS554US554&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=using%20ultrasound%20to%20remove%20kidney%20stones
There are several good articles there and it is a much better method than many in use but some Doctors & Hospitals do not have the equipment…
Had my lithotripsy with stent insertion today. Woke up very groggy and very nauseous. I threw up several times afterwards. Mainly I believe from the smell of the nasal cannula I woke up to. There was no pain for several hours after the procedures. It’s been about 5 hours since I’ve been sent home and it feels as though I’m peeing razor blades. I don’t have any other complications now. I was sent home with Norco and hyoscyamine sulfate for bladder spasms.
Oh and added bonus, I started my period yesterday so completely bloody pot after attempting to urinate. With tears and screams.
The pain while urinating only lasted twice that day. I’ve been fine ever since. A slight twinge in my side every once in a while that is uncomfortable but not painful. I urinate often. I wet myself when I kneeled down to talk to my baby but that’s the only time that has happened. I feel like I constantly have to go. I haven’t been able to poo yet though. Possibly from the pain meds. I go back Tuesday next week to see where we stand on a secondary treatment or removal of stent. I’m grateful I’m having a complication free stent experience. So it is possible to not have problems with a stent.
Week 3. No pain from stent whatsoever. Unless my 2 year old put his elbow in my kidney. Ouch. He did it at least twice. I went in this morning for my doctor to laser the stone fragments which were 5mm and less, though he mentioned some were larger when he got in there. My stent was removed and a new one placed which will be removed next week. Some discomfort in my side. And the razor blade pee again. But everything is done with now thank goodness. Well until stent removal. Then I’ll be adding the discomfort from that. I feel like I’ve been incredibly lucky with this journey so far.
After a long 8 months of having a kidney stonethat wasn’t able to be removed straight due to infections and other complications a stent was put in but I couldn’t and didn’t have it removed when due time the stent became incrusted anyways 8 months later of on and off pain I finally was able to have the stone and stent removed today now I have a stent with string in but… downside im not sure of why there is constant dribbles of urine which not only annoying with discomfort of stent but embarrassing. Hopefully they can tell me why its doinh this due to the fact my bday is in a weeks time hopefully its removed and im better fingers crossed
Went to ER on the 8th with pain at a level 15 on a scale of 1-10. I would have rather birthed set of 15lb triplets naturally than have this pain. Turns out 6mm stone on right side blocking all flow from kidney to bladder which was why the pain was so bad. Kidney was full of infection a fluid. Surgery the 9th to try to remove stone as a whole to alleviate the need for a stent. Well I came out of surgery with a damn stent, and kidney stone still in place. Could not remove stone and risk sepsis. Going back today after tons of Cipro and meds. The Oxybutinin is useless…. This is the most uncomfortable thing ever. I can’t bend over, stretch, squat, sit for too long, stand for too long, can’t even try to make a bm because it feels like I am pushing the stent out. I hope today, he schedules surgery for the next day or two and removes the stent at the same time as the stone. I can’t take this anymore. UGH!
I had a 6.5mm kidney stone lasered yesterday and a stent placed! The stent is very uncomfortable and makes me have uti like symptoms. My doctor gave me Enablex and Uribell to help with the pain and spasms and it works really well!! He also gave me Rapaflo which helps me urinate better! He told me I could have some increase pain and blood clots because he had to use the laser due to my kidney stone being lasered!(he gave me norco for pain) I’m expecting a call to have lithotripsy set up BC I have a stone also in both kidneys! Doctor said he would pull my stent while I’m under for lithotripsy!! He also did many test and checked my parathyroid .. All normal!! He said according to what my stone analysis comes back, more than likely I will need HcTZ daily to help me get rid of all the extra calcium!!
Try corn silk supplement instead with doctors permission. It worked for me. You just have to keep on eye on your blood pressure because in some people it can make the blood pressure go to high or low,especially if a patient is on blood pressure medications. Not everyone has trouble with it. It works the same as what the doctor suggested with only that one possible side effect. The bottle says you can take 3 tablets daily, but I only took one a day and it helped me.
I just got my stent removed yesterday.was the worst three weeks ever.pissing chunks of blood everyday and omg.today I’m so relieved and back to normal.
After reading and relating to all the above comments, I was so glad to hear someone had their stent removed and they feel better. My surgery was 5 days ago and the stent comes out on Monday. Looking forward to feeling better. Thank you for posting. Glad you are feeling good!!!
So glad you give me hope. i had a stent placed on Saturday due to a 7mm stone blocking the flow from my kidney to the urethra. it was a relief at first because the agonizing pain that i felt from the stone was gone, but over the last two days is been miserable with always having to go and blood in utinr which is freaking me out.
Omg! I’m getting ready to have bilateral stones removed…. I have 3 on one side and 2 on the other 8 mm and 6mm….. im going to have to have a stent on BOTH sides… not looking forward to it….yikes
Just got my left stent placed 3 days ago under anesthesia. Urologist was going to do PCNL on struvite stone on right kidney and place bilateral stents with second procedure following in a week to remove calcium oxalate stones; but was postponed due to something he found on CT scan. I was completely prepped for surgery- so he at least placed left stent. Now need contrast CT scan to determine problem on right. Don’t know why my primary didn’t order this in the first place. May have tumor which was obscured by cyst. Kidney stones in left did not appreciate their home being invaded, and that night had very painful attack on top of stent placement (or due to the stent, I just don’t know). I did not take the pain meds right away because I didn’t know how much discomfort to expect. My advice to all is take the pain meds right away before the pain gets ahead of you. Do not be afraid of the pain meds- they give them to you for a reason! Am now feeling much better and only have mild to moderate pain when urinating which is helped by some Tylenol. Am taking Flomax too. Pain is all relative to how much we have previously experienced. Always get a kick out of medical professionals asking “How bad is the pain on a scale of 1 to 10”. Well, I’ve been through labor, get cluster headaches and have had kidney stones so I am well versed in pain. I NOW take the narcotics when prescribed! Lessons learned.
Hello
I had a stent put in Thursday on the left side very painful Dr said I could go back to work Friday I have had to call in the last 2 nights. I am so over this already. Does the pain last the whole time the stent is in if so I don’t have time for this I am in the middle of nursing school.
here’s my story:
on sept 5, 2014, I was in agony. agony for me being OK, Carin we’re going to the hospital. normally, I don’t go for back pain, but when my dad told me it was my kidney, I thought to listen. I have read horror stories of vomiting, pain during urination, and bloodin the urine. well, since I was due for my menses, I thought I was just having menstrual cramps. I didn’t notice how little I was urinating. I get in, and they feel and push on my back. come to find out, there’s a 1 cm sized (11mm) stone blocking my ureteral tube from draining my kidney, hence all that back pain. at this time, I’m watching the er doc RUN back and forth in front on me. so, I thought “now what?” they tell me I’m getting admitted, and in the morning I’m having surgery to have a stent place to drain the kidney. a nephrostomy tube will come out and drain the backed up fluid. OK, not too bad, until I find out about anesthesia (which is my worse fear). they made an attempt to go thru the bladder: no luck, so an hour later its thru my back. more anesthesia. I hate anesthesia! well, when I wake up, I’m in no pain, and there is a nephrostomy tube from my back, drainage bag on my left leg, and a Foley catheter in the front on my right leg. lovely. the next day, after much is drained, they remove my back tube but they neglected to communicate the stent is there, and tell me in two weeks, I have lithotripsy. lithotripsy went fine, more agitating anesthesia, and I don’t have pain or bruising from it. two weeks after that, I have an xray and find out lithotripsy broke it up, I should be passing it now. my worse experience at this point is when I pee not much comes out but I peed twice as many times as before this happened. also, I couldn’t stand or walk for more than five minutes, and I had the stent in for three weeks. when they removed it, a week ago, I had no pain after, and minimal pain during removal,and thankfully, NO ANESTHESIA! so far, my urination output as far as I feel is back to how it used to be. and I only had light flank pain for the first couple days after they took out the stent.
I’m glad I found this site and got to read your story. My story is very minimal compared to most here. I had 3 stones. One in each of my kidneys 5-7mm and one that was trying to pass my left tube. It was a 5mmX7mm and unfortunately because of a stone before. I had significant narrowing, so it and any other stone will never pass. Since he was already knocking me out to take the one, decided to have him take them all. Came home from overnight stay and oral meds were making me sick, so had to go off pain meds ( super excited about that). As pain meds wore off, I felt better, but pain started increasing. I was lucky with the being able to pee fine, with minimal flank pain. But it kept increasing. They just took out stints today and have some pain in my left flank (the side with the narrowing). I’m glad I’m not the only one with this pain. Thank you for sharing your story.
I am 23 and I went in for surgery yesterday 10/09/14 to have stones removed from both kidneys and then stents put in both sides. I was put under for the surgery and when I woke I was in the worse pain. Then I started vomiting and it took almost a whole day at the hospital to get the pain and vomiting under control. That night I went home and finally ate for the first time in nearly 24 hours. It helps I thought I was about to take my pain medications and fall asleep. Only after a few hours of sleep I woke up to pee and that is when the extreme pain started to the point of vomiting. After battling pain and vomiting all night and morning I called the doctor. The doctor just instructed me to do what I was already doing. (Also the same as my discharge institution) I can’t seem to find any relief from this pain and discomfort. I am taking the max pain meds and using a heating pad and drinking enough fluids. Does anyone have any ideas to help at home?
>Does anyone have any ideas to help at home?
Go to your hospital emergency department. The pain meds you need cannot be obtained over the counter.
I just finished removing my stent (string-pull at home method) minutes ago. I just stood over the commode and pulled gently and slowly. No feeling of the stent being stuck or resisting coming out.
Only experienced minor “burning” sensation near tip of penis during the process, and some minor feeling of inflammation still exists.
Last night and this morning I had not seen any blood in my urine, but there was a drop or two at the start of removing the stent.
On my urologist’s recommendation I had taken a pain pill an hour before removing the stent.
The stent was inserted by my urologist 5 days ago as part of a procedure (for which I had been sedated) which involved a ureteroscopy including her going in to break up a stone (5 x 7 x 8 mm) that had lodged where the ureter ended at the bladder, causing blockage and some minor swelling of the ureter and the kidney.
Hope all of you have as mild an experience as mine was.
In 1981 during a pregnancy with twins my kidney ruptured from a congenital defect. There was a flap that grew over the ureter blocking the urine from draining into my bladder. With the twins at almost full term, the kidney ruptured. They attempted to try to repair it but it was finally removed. They had placed a stent inside for a while, it crawled up into my kidney and at that time they did not have a way to remove them. After heading to another medical facility who was able to help me, the kidney was finally removed. I was hoping things had become better by now.
See what Matt Ryan said October 6, 2014 at 7:04 am. (And I thought I had it bad.)
‘Enjoyed’ my first stone around 1996, when I was then 56 and made a daily 124 mile round-trip commute from N. San Diego County to Orange County. I arose at 04:45, hopped on my mountain bike, pumped 8 miles, came home, showered, hit the 8-to-21 lanes of traffic on I-5 and I-405, worked until 7 or 8, returned home, wolfed down dinner that wifey kindly reheated, went to bed at 11 . . . and started over at 04:45 the next day.
That went on for the last 10 years before retirement. Told my boss (future CIO and GM of WalMart Global), “The job is easy; the commute’s a killer.”
Just before lunch at work in ’96, I began to feel as though someone was pushing a large, flat-bladed screwdriver into my lower-right back. By 1 PM, I was peeing blood and the discomfort was pretty extreme. I wondered, ‘kidney stone’? By 6 PM and still at work, I was in pretty bad shape and faced the 62-mile drive home. Finally got there around 8, tried to eat something, and flopped in a chair, while waves of slow-roller spasms hit me.
Finally told wifey I had to get to the ER. While completing the paperwork at the ER, I passed the first boulder of the night. Later, on a gurney, I asked the docs to shoot me up with something to relieve the pain. That worked and I napped for a couple hours, then went home.
That was my intro to stones. Subsequent to ’96, I’ve probably ‘enjoyed’ 12-15 episodes, usually on the right side, none as severe as the initial event, and none requiring a return to the ER. I retired at the end of ’98, moved to SW Montana in 2003, and have enjoyed the mountains since.
Then, on Aug 12, I awoke around 1:30 AM, thinking I was experiencing something like extreme constipation. The affected area was my entire lower back, and I ran from bed to bathroom to bed to . . . etc., trying to figure out what was going on. By 5 AM, the pain had localized on the right, I recognized the symptoms, and told wifey I was off to the local ER.
A CT showed a 9mm bullet in the right kidney. Too large to pass, they said, so they sent me, totally doped up, to urologists in Bozeman. Wifey came through for me again, hauling us the 100-plus miles to Bozeman-Deaconess. Because modern medicine has found it prudent to place upwards of 400,000 middlemen between patient and doc, I was confronted with any number of helpful souls between the local ER and various medical departments in Bozeman. At each step, an interviewer held the equivalent of a clip board/laptop/desktop/mobile, and each questionnaire had at least one bullet item asking when the patient had last had a EEG/stress test/physical/pulmonary workup. My last ‘physical’ was in 1965, when I was mustered out from the USAF. Military discharge physicals are best described as “Looks good from door,” or “Don’t let the door hit you in the a** on your way out.” So I called time out and suggested the Bozeman docs request a complete benchmark be made at home. Keep in mind: the anesthesiologist is key and has to know the condition of the patient before commencement of any procedure. The anesthesiologist is the gate keeper who says “Go/No Go.” The more information the anesthesiologist has, the better. A baseline series was completed between Aug 18 and 25. I went back to Bozeman-Deaconess Sept 30 and had a lithotripsy procedure, which went without incident. The anesthesiologist was a young gal who, as it turned out, was a classmate of my immediate neighbor and family doc. She gave me a spinal during which I was unable to detect the needle . . . .
OK. Lithotripsy. More effective than sonic blasting. Only downsides? The stent runs to the kidney. It might seem to be problematic. But it was not. Left in the body for (in my case) 7 days, I was unaware of the presence of the stent, but I was (7X24=168 hrs) constantly aware of the two thin wires that run from the stent through and out the urethra. Because the human body moves, them $#@%! wires move. By moving, they chafe, irritate, tend to exacerbate post-op bleeding, and constantly argue that the esteemed patient is either peeing his or her bloomers, or has to go to the bathroom . . . NOW!
Other than that, the whole thing was a breeze.
Stent came out today. I prepped by taking 2 oxycodone tabs one hour before seeing the doc. That helped mightily. The discomfort/pain during removal lasted about 3-4 seconds.
Immediate aftermath? No chaffing or discomfort or need to run to the bathroom. Wifey no longer sneaking around behind my back, threatening to hook me up to truck jumper cables.
Lesson learned? >>>===> Stay away from soft drinks. In my case, I was (past tense) a cola-holic.
Hello All,
Thanks so much for all of your comments. I had a 3-4 mm stone removed from my left ureter on 10/02/14 and a stent inserted to stop any scar tissue from creating a blockage. I was constipated for the first 3 days post stone removal(basket /lasering) and the pressure was constant on my left side. I had unbelievable spasms on my left side in the recovery room, I am guessing due to the stent. I have burning upon urination and pressure going up to my left kidney every time I pee. I seem to always have an urge to have a bowel movement. the constipation was the worst, felt like throwing up once I started to go yesterday. now today I went again and it was better, but not normal for me. I am scheduled to have the stent removed in the doctors office on 10/14/14. I dont know haw that guy who said he was hiking did it. i am in good shape, 55years old and 260 lbs. i cant be away from the house, constant need to pee, and I cant stay erect for more than 20 minutes, have to lay horizontal to relive pressure. I will post more when I have it removed on the 14th, I am not looking foward to it..lol
My husband had a stint put in 8/17/14 and had it removed on 10/7/14 and had a new one put in same day.it damaged his ureter the first one..my husband is a small guy he weighed 158 before all this now weighs 130 .is the weight loss normal??? For this type of thing? We had the procedure done at a county hospital they herded him in like livestock.in and out….extremely worried freaked out more like it over the weight loss..please let me know if u know if this is normal. Thank you.
I had to have a uteral stent put in back in June because of a congenital blockage. I’m usually very tough and do not let hings keep me down. I haven’t called in sick in years, but this was as my husband put it, my kryptonite. found it to be extremely uncomfortable. I have a very physical job and I’m on my feet ALL day and the stent made it so painful about 4 hours into work and then when I would go to the bathroom there would be alot of blood.
i found whenever
i was in pain, there was alot of blood. Doctor says it’s okay as long as it’s not super thick. Had an endopylotomy now to take out the blockage and another stent.
This one is mor painful than the first one. 4 months with stents and
I am soooo over it.
Want to feel like a normal person again and exercise and have fun.
should be coming out on Tues and I can not wait. I’ll let you know if it’s as great as
i’m hoping to get it out.
hoping all problems solved!!