Sometimes, for various reasons, there may be a violation of the outflow of urine from the ureter. This can happen due to displacement of kidney stones, blood clotting, etc.
Appointment
The ureteral stent is designed to restore urine flow. This is an easily bending tube that will have to be in the ureter. It serves to remove urine into the environment past the bladder. The ureteral stent is installed for certain infectious diseases of the kidneys and for complex operations.
Device
The length of the stent reaches 30 cm with a tube diameter of up to 6 mm. In order for the urinary catheter to be securely fixed, one of its ends is equipped with a spiral, which is also called a “pig’s tail”. The device is installed using a cystoscope or ureteroscope. The ureteral stent is made of polyurethane or silicone. Its surface should be smooth, it should not be exposed to urine, not covered with salts. Silicone turned out to be the most resistant to destruction and salt inlay, but due to its high flexibility, the tube is difficult to fix and hold in the required position. To reduce the reactivity of the stent, it is treated with a hydrogel coating. This increases the life of the device.
Complications after the stent installation procedure
Patients complain of dysuria, frequent urination, involuntary urination, nocturia. These phenomena are observed more often immediately after the installation of the catheter, sometimes very pronounced. To avoid stent removal, antispasmodics are prescribed. A decrease in the intensity of symptoms is observed after a few days. Sometimes patients complain of pain in the side and abdomen. The cause of pain in the side is urine reflux during urination. An established ureteral stent sometimes causes an infectious inflammation of the urinary tract. Antibiotics are prescribed to prevent complications, although it is undesirable to use them for a long time, as resistant microorganisms can develop.
Proximal migration is a serious complication arising from the installation of a very short stent with suboptimal twisting of the distal end or trauma to the upper calyx of the kidney with the proximal end. With a long stay of the stent in the ureter, fragmentation can occur.
A fragmented ureteric stent must be removed by ureteroscopy, cystoscopy, or through the skin.
Application
The ureteral stent is used to stent the ureter in the presence of obstruction of the renal system, i.e. if there is a problem with the outflow of urine from the kidneys. The reasons may be different - urological, neurological and iatrogenic. Urological diseases include urolithiasis, neoplasms in the ureter, prostate or bladder, prostate adenoma, retroperitoneal fibrosis. Obstruction, which does not belong to the field of urology, is compression and germination in the ureters of tumors of a different location, various lymphomas and lymphadenopathies. Iatrogenic causes are adhesions after operations that were performed on the pelvic organs, as well as after radiation therapy.