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 went for a urteroscopy and stone removal on 18th February. Urethra was too small so had a J stent fitted and to try again at later stage
Had blood for three-four days and a lot of pain but this settled after a week. Unfortunately only settled for a few days then kidney abdo and back pain came back with avengence! The need to sit pretty much constantly on the toilet is high too!
Not enjoying this at all and can’t wait for next op but could be anywhere up to 2months due to waiting lists 🙁
The guy next to me in hospital had same op and I knew him and he’s reported he’s had no problems at all! Guess it’s different for everybody
Wow, this has been helpful to read. I’m shocked at the amount of Women who have had kidney stones. I’ve heard of cases where Women have had to pass them, but I mainly heard about Men dealing with it for the most part. I had 2 kidney stones that landed me in the ER, then a 3 day hospital stay back at the end of Jan. At that time I had the stent put in. We’re already in March and I must say, I miss how my life was before this. I’ve had moments of intense pain where my testicles feel like someone is squeezing them. It truly hurts. I have to urinate a lot ofcourse. I ‘ve put on some weight too even though I’ve been drinking a lot of water. I always feel bloated and gassey at times. I hate the way this feels. When I urinate, I have to push in on the back of my kidney to lessen the pain. I used to jog a lot on the beach. I haven’t been able to do that since the stent was put in. I just don’t feel myself anymore. Can’t wait til this thing comes out and all the stones pass from the blast they did in Feb. Thanks for all who posted. It was helpful.
If you had those stones in there for awhile that’s crazy. Obvious your Dr never had them. There veryly painful for women. So I can feel you with the pain. I just got my 4th kidney stone removed today by having the Ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy done. The laser the stone into small pieces or dust and you pee the pieces out. Only thing I don’t like is the stent, it’s annoying.
My fiance had a 9mms kidney stone..Dr blasted it with laser…And put stent in…Not even a week ago…No stones have been passed…And they are removing the stent tomorrow…the Dr said the stone was in 4-5 pieces..shouldn’t he pass the stones before removing the stent?
for the 4th time ive had a stent put in. the stone although small, 5mm, caused me the worst pain ive ever experienced. the stent is going to be removed on the 20th, tho i cannot wait. its highly uncomfortable and i can feel its there. causes heavy bleeding when i urinate and the oddest sensation during and after, burning, tingling ,” are we done yet or is there more” i also feel the need to urinate often.Not to mention the pain…backache included. what helps tho is a good painkiller, muscle relaxer and a tab to help my bladder “hold out” for longer. without meds,…..HELL! doctors might as well prescribe sleeping tabs that can knock one out
Why are doctors leaving the stent in for so long. It should be removed within 48-72 hours.
I agree with Tim. I just had my 4th kidney stone done today by doing the Ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy. In three days the stent will come out. It is very uncomfortable. I hope I never have to have one again.
I had a small kidney stone that was stuck in my ureter, the surgeon used a balloon to blow my ureter up so he could get it out, I have a stent in & it hurts like crazy . My back hurts horribly when I pee & also feels like a knife is coming out of me everytime I pee . I also have a ton of blood everytime I pee. Im kind of curious if there is any way to relieve the pain at all, im miserable.
I had a stent inserted yesterday while I got lytropshy stone blasting, my 1.5cm stone didn’t even break so I’ll need laser procedure next!
Since yesterday and today ( 2 days ) had blood in urine slowly disappearing but still
There! The pain while utinating hurts like crazy, it feels like pee is bouncing back to kidney and I have strong back kidney pain while utinating, also knife cutting feeling while peeing!
I took a break from pain medicine but after not sleeping last night I had to continue taking it!
I just want this all to pass!! 🙁
Reading these comments, I’m wondering why your Dr. put in a stent before removing the stone. I had my procedure this past Friday. My doctor went in with a camera and lasered the 1.2cm stone and removed it. Then he put the stent in to drain it. I haven’t had any pain. I can feel that there is something there but not really irritating. The first day I had a few urethra spasms and now have a weird urethra sensation as a I finish urinating but it only lasts a second. The stent is only staying in for 1 week. Getting it out this Friday.
Why did the doctor put in a stent before removing the stone? I wondered that myself and the truth wasn’t easy to prise out.
The answer is mind-boggling. It is because I went into an NHS hospital as an emergency patient in total agony with a stone stuck just below the kidney. It is NHS policy that removing the stone is not an emergency procedure but inserting a stent is, so they could not remove the stone. Instead they inserted a stent and put me on a waiting list for laser treatment to remove the stone.
This is totally unnecessary madness. How can it be ethical to leave a patient in agonizing pain which is not even relieved with strong doses of morphine? And it is penny wise and pound foolish. Why is the cost conscious NHS carrying out an extra & I think useless interim procedure when they will have to operate later anyway? The stone is bigger than the ureter and is very unlikely to pass without an operation.
Of course you are warned of possible complications but you think that is just to cover themselves for the unlikely as always. I was also told it was a simple procedure. It sounds like severe pain is a likely outcome, and I will have to not only continue to bear the pain until the stone is dealt with, but also afterwards.
I can cope quite well with pain, but this was beyond anything I have experienced, including childbirth and shattering an arm. I feel badly let down by this stupid NHS policy – and they weren’t upfront about it.
Thanks to this forum, I know it isn’t just me.
Had my stent put in February 25, 2015, it has been very uncomfortable, I still have bleeding. Can’t do much walking or sitting, I can feel the stent on my back. I get relief laying down and just resting. Having it removed March 4th I can hardly wait for that day to come around.
I agree with you. I got my stent in today and it’s very uncomfortable. I get my out in three days and I can’t wait. Mine has a string attached to it. Did your have one and did it hurt getting it out.
I’m so glad to find this site! I have been in constant, knife like pain since the insertion of a stent on February 23rd. I have oxalate kidney stones, and ALWAYS have to have a stent inserted. I’m now on narcotic pain killers waiting for the removal of this malformed instrument of distress that is scheduled for Wednesday. Why can’t the companies who make these instruments of torture develop a new type? And is it my imagination, or are most of the people having pain women? Is the design wrong for women’s ureters? Is the lumen of the stent too big for a woman’s ureter? Is the substance used to make the stent not compatible with women’s urinary tract?
I had double stents fitted 2 days ago under general anaesthetic. Still have blood in the urine and the very painful burning on urination and the frequency is settling down a bit now ( 3rd day) I like the sound that heat pads may relieve the sensation and will be giving it a go today…….Thanks Terry L
Was told I would barely feel it. After three days I had no choice but to go back to work. I’m in pain all of the time and I have a high pain threshold!! When I drive If I hit a bump in the road I feel like I left my bladder a few miles back. I walk constantly at work and most nights am holding back tears a few hours in. I still have a couple of months of this and am looking for any forms of relief people have found. I read about the heating pad and will be trying that tonight. Any ideas? Throw them out! I’m just about to loose my mind. My urologist gave me samples of a med that is supposed to help with the spasms but it just turns my urine blue, when I’m not bleeding. I just want to feel like myself again!
You poor thing! Try hot baths, even a hot shower. It’s helped me a little bit as has heating pads. I’m alternating between prescription ibuprofen and narcotic every 3 hours. Also take stuff if you’re constipated; that makes it worse. Lithotripsy on 2/18 only blasted a part of my stone. 5 mm left, which sent me to the ER and they pushed it back into my kidney and put in a stent. Ended up staying two more days in the hospital; the pain was excruciating. It’s still bad. Can’t get next litho until 3/18. They better get all this mofo and get this thing out of me. Laying down once the narcotic kicks in is the only time I have true relief, for about 30 minutes. Sitting is uncomfortable, routine errands, cooking, playing with the kid spikes the pain and blood, a deep breath or standing straight sends that knife feeling down my urethra, the end of urination is like a damn contraction. Any kind of exercise is out. Driving, when I’m not on painkillers, sucks with every pothole I hit. I’ve managed to get to the warm water pool and hot tub in the gym a couple of times. I was not prepared for getting one or the “discomfort”. I’m a 44 year old overweight woman who’s birthed a kid, wrecked a knee and ankle, dislocated a tailbone, bone bruised my tibia…I have discomfort every day.
Had stent placed about two weeks ago waiting to have procedure to have my 9mm stone removed, mine stent came out last night when I urinated, so I hope I’m not in for another placement before I can have this procedure…..Have not had too much pain, no pain meds after 3rd day, and nothing more than Tylenol from the beginning.
I have a stent since 10 dec 2014 as still waiting for lithotripsy, very uncomfortable, feel as if I have a knife urethrally, daily spasms, bloating, abdo and backpain, urinary urge and pain on micturition. Unable to work since, been told it will be at least a couple more months before I have lithotripsy, had 4 sessions in 2013!! Cannot cope with it !
get another dr. you should not have a stent in for that long and it should only be put in after surgery.
There are different stents that can be left in for different periods of time.
Get another Dr. You shouldn’t have to wait that long to have your stone remove. my dr gave me Pills to help me pee it out and When that didn’t work he gave me a few more days to get rid of it, and I didn’t. So i had the Ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy done today. Kidney stone’s hurt more then having a baby. And that stent I have sucks too, but thank god it’s going to be out in three days. I can’t wait.
I just had my stent removed today and having it for 6 days and having surgery on my 13mm kidney stone. I didn’t have much pain at all and the pain that I didn’t have was easily taken care of with ib profin. The stent didn’t hurt when it came out but the noise of it scraping inside was the worst part. Kind of like nails on a chalkboard. And in having slight discomfort now but it’s starting to lighten up. Good luck:)
My stent was placed on Friday , after 3 days for urinating claret, There is some stinging discomfort although manageable, There is two 8mm stones that are on top of the bladder, if no drop, the Urologist will play lazer skirmish next coming weeks.
Hi did the urge to urinate go away after the stend was removed did everything go back to normal after that
I had a Stent put in a week ago. Still have the kidney stone also. Stone will be blasted in a few weeks as well as the stent removed.
Honestly I hate it so much. I dont just have the constant urge to pee I actually am constantly busting, and I mean busting to the point you would normally have to bolt for the toilet. It’s the most uncomfortable and annoying feeling ever that I’m in tears most the day.
Besides that tho I’ve found the pain in my kidney is barely there thankfully.
As my blood was septic when I got to hospital I’m just glad I’m feeling better then what I did. Now to just fall into a really deep sleep and not wake up for 3 weeks would be awesome 🙁
I had a stent on the 11 Dec then it was removed on the 3rd February. But after that I have pains on my abdomen sometimes I feel like there’s a movement on my abdomen it is actually I feel more discomfort than when the stent was in what to do I take pain killers but I don’t feel better
I had a stent inserted in Dec 09 and it was with me for 7 days with a piece of string exiting my body for easy removal by my wife who was a nurse at the time. I was fortunate not to have experienced any discomfort whatsoever while the stent was in place and like many others, I held inner fears of what to expect when the time came to have it removed. It was not painful or uncomfortable as I had perceived it would be.
I had a stent placed on Wednesday afternoon prior to a lithotripsy procedure for a 15mm kidney stone. This was done under general anesthesia so when I initially left the surgery center I had no discomfort. I was given a script for pain medication but by the time my husband went to get it filled and came home the urinary frequency and pain in my kidney during urination was very painful but tolerable. I did not have sharp pains or what some describe as “razor blades” in my urethra; however, I was up all night with intense urinary frequency at least every 15 minutes. I had been using a heating pad on my back in the months prior to the procedure which was life saving throughout the renal colic due to the position of the stone. Anticipating back pain from the procedure, I was lying on the heating pad through the night. Around 6 am after at least thirty trips to the bathroom, I played the heating pad on my lower abdomen and within 15 minutes the urinary frequency sensation had calmed down. It has done wonders to relieve all discomfort related to the stent. I had done a ton of research on the lithotripsy procedure and stent placement follow-up and found nothing that indicated heat would calm down stent discomfort. In addition to writing this in hopes that it will bring comfort to other individuals experiencing stent discomfort, I wrote it in a survey that I filled out today post procedure, in an attempt to have it included in their discharge instructions for pain management. Good luck and turn up the heat!
Thank you so much for the heating pad advice. I had a stent placed yesterday and am experiencing major discomfort with it. I had a ureterscopy done for 4 5mm stones on the right side. Heating pad relieved the urgencey to urniate every 15 minutes. Thank you again.
I too have tried a heating pad after lots of Google searches. Why the doctor didn’t include that in my post op instructions is beyond me. It sure seems to help with the pain from my Stent removal. I wish I tried it before my Stent removal. That and pounding water seems to help. Coffee seemed to aggravate it, so as much as I love it, I’ve discontinued at least for the time being.
I’m posting here in hopes the heating pad comes up in other Google searches. I’ll do anything to help my fellow pain sufferers, because it’s not fun. God be with you during this incredibly freaking hard time!
I had a stent placed 1week ago. I feel fortunate that I have not had any significant pain. I did have blood in my urine for about 3 days and slight discomfort upon urination but wouldn’t know I have a stent at all. I am nervous to have it removed next week.
I had a stent put in friday after having a large kidney stone removed doctors did tell me there will still be pain but gave me codine and paracetamol to help I have it removed in 2weeks also I have a small kidney stone in my left kidnet which is apparently to small to operate on hopeing I will past it, ive never had any health problems or surgery before but is scary, also bleeding very bad which im not used to, all I can compare the pain of kidney stone to is if your female would be child birth ( contraction) hope the bleeding stops after stent is removed, plus my partner feeling lonely as I cant have intercourse
I had gotten a stent put in last tuesday after i had surgery to get my kidney stones out and ever since my pain is excruciating in my bladder and kidney i can sa it hurts way worse than the kidney stones messed with me im 17 and they have me on hydros and they dont work worth shit i have blood in my urine and it hurts to uriniate is there anything i can take to help me get through this pain
I had a stent inserted for about two months, three months ago. Now, during intercourse it is very painful. I’m female by the way. So I’m wondering if any other females who’ve had stents experienced painful intercourse as well? Just curious if its stent related as it seems.to maybe be right near my urethera. Thanks!
My stents are giving me pain when I urinate the pain is bad and lasts 15 to 20 min after urination
OK so I have had a Stent in for almost 9 months now I have to have a neph tube put in monday because my kidney is starting to shut down because of the stent that was placed. Monday the 26th it will be 9 months and when I am supposed to have surgery to take it out plus get my other kidney stones broke up. I am 27 and have had stones since I was 16 so yes i am excited to get this taken out but I am tired of the pain that comes along with a stent. Please if anyone will take my advice DO NOT HAVE A STENT PUT IN!!!!
I wish I had of seen this earlier. I just had a stent today and if I had of know what all to expect I never would have gotten it. I am also 24 weeks pregnant I had a miscarriage back in May and this pain is way worse than that. Not to mention I had to be awake through the whole procedure… I just wish I had of seen this earlier..
I wish I had of seen this earlier. I just had a stent today and if I had of know what all to expect I never would never have gotten it. I am also 24 weeks pregnant I had a miscarriage back in May and this pain is way worse than that. Not to mention I had to be awake through the whole procedure… I just wish I had of seen this earlier..