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painful urinary stent removal
I have had kidney stones removed surgically on three occasions over the past ten years. Each time the Dr. has left a stent in my urinary tract. The first two times the stent had a string attached to it. When the stent was removed it caused minimal discomfort. The third time which was perfomed recently, the Dr. said he preferred not to attach a string to the stent. I agreed, not knowing that I was agreeing to a procedure that was infinitely different from my previous experiences. A week after surgery, I had the stent removed in the doctor's office. No pain medication was administered. The removal of the stent was one of the most painful events I have ever experienced. Twice during the procedure, my bladder was filled with water. This was also extremely painful.
Is there justification for conducting such a procedure without measuires to abate the extres pain that it causes?
Is there justification for conducting such a procedure without measuires to abate the extres pain that it causes?
I think the removal should be done in a hospital under meds. It is cruel and excruciating and i think each doctor should have it done then taken out in the most barbaric way they do to us. I feel your pain.
I have a stent in me right now. my doctor had me come in a week after an eswal and a laser surgery 14 hours apart. i had a ct scan that showed that all is fine now and he refused to take the stent out until next week. i have been in more pain than has been when i had a blockage. I believe that this prolonged period is all about money. You get 1 free appointment after surgery then he can bill for the removal and everything that he does during the extraction of the stent. I think this is a crime due to the fact he didn't even see me after the ct scan. he sent in a assistant i had never met before and she was not very knowledgeble about my case. I am very dissapointed and pissed off at the mishandling my doctor has done with me. though i value him as the professional I wish he would have been more understanding about my need to remove this from my body. Further more i cannot stand up for long periods of time. I have too much preassure and need to urinate too freequently. i hve called out from work because i stand up for 7 hours a day and need to keep on leaving my work and employers are understanding but not thrilled. I am to have the stent removed on friday and i will never allow him to put one in again without a written agreement to have it removed in one week or i will sue.
I have a stent in me right now. my doctor had me come in a week after an eswal and a laser surgery 14 hours apart. i had a ct scan that showed that all is fine now and he refused to take the stent out until next week. i have been in more pain than has been when i had a blockage. I believe that this prolonged period is all about money. You get 1 free appointment after surgery then he can bill for the removal and everything that he does during the extraction of the stent. I think this is a crime due to the fact he didn't even see me after the ct scan. he sent in a assistant i had never met before and she was not very knowledgeble about my case. I am very dissapointed and pissed off at the mishandling my doctor has done with me. though i value him as the professional I wish he would have been more understanding about my need to remove this from my body. Further more i cannot stand up for long periods of time. I have too much preassure and need to urinate too freequently. i hve called out from work because i stand up for 7 hours a day and need to keep on leaving my work and employers are understanding but not thrilled. I am to have the stent removed on friday and i will never allow him to put one in again without a written agreement to have it removed in one week or i will sue.
I have had two ops now for kidney stones.The first without a stent.The second with.I was told that the stent is to allow for free fow of urine as maybe the area operated on could become swollen.
I had a very miserable time with the stnt in place and I intend to discuss with the hospital the lack of information you come away with .
I am not sure about the money thing as in the UK we do not pay dirct.We pay a national Insurance.This covers all health care.A wonderful system.
Keep drinking water and lot's of it to anyone reading this and suffering from stinging urine,as to all the other nastys I have no answer.
Good luck to you all.
In my own case the removal was uncomfertable but not painful and over and done in a very short time.
I had a very miserable time with the stnt in place and I intend to discuss with the hospital the lack of information you come away with .
I am not sure about the money thing as in the UK we do not pay dirct.We pay a national Insurance.This covers all health care.A wonderful system.
Keep drinking water and lot's of it to anyone reading this and suffering from stinging urine,as to all the other nastys I have no answer.
Good luck to you all.
In my own case the removal was uncomfertable but not painful and over and done in a very short time.
I have a stent in now. I am a 24'year old male that handles pain really well, but I all but cry every time I pee. I have sit down to pee cause the pain is so bad that my legs give out and I fall. The stent was part one of a two part precedure, but I was informed after stent placement that the lythotripsy was too much money and without insurance wouldn't be done. Now they won't even remove the stent. It's been at least two months and feels like a lifetime of cruel and unusual punishment. I HATE THIS. :-(
Reference "painful urinary stent removal", permit me to add to PRINCPAL56's comments. Just today I had a stent removed via a Cystoscopy (this is NOT the approach that uses a string to remove the stent; instead it "involves placement of a small flexible tube through the urethra"). I'm a 50 year old male who's had his share of injury and medical procedure. The procedure I had today was, with no exception, the most unpleasant and painful experience of my life. To anyone reading this community, if you are going to get a stent, inquire carefully about how it will be removed. I wish I had.
It is strange that we all have such different experinces.
When they removed my stent I watched it all on a screen on the wall that the Dr used,It really could not be described as painful.
Happy Happy day when the blasted thing was removed.
When they removed my stent I watched it all on a screen on the wall that the Dr used,It really could not be described as painful.
Happy Happy day when the blasted thing was removed.
Second time I have had one removed, 1st time not too much of a problem over pretty quickly although for 2wks prior I was either in contstant tugging pain, or sheer agony, nice! Had another removed today after stone laser in my kidney 16 days ago........Ouch!!! It hurt like a ******* and took 7 minutes.....why oh why do the medical profession insist on performing this without anesthesia, especially when often there is calcification between the ureter and the stent so it's like pulling out razor blades as in my case which makes removal extremely painful...they don't tell you about calcification do they......I wanted to scream!
I just had a stent removed yesterday and I was quite nervous about going in and having it done as I had not asked my Dr what it entailed because I did not want to get myself to worked up but I must say it was more uncomfortable then painful, the Dr. timed it and it took 46 seconds to take it out. I had no anesthetics or anything to numb it but it was not half as bad as the pain I endured when that darn thing was in. I am still in some pain in my lower abdomen but not as bad as when I had the stent actually in, I have had some minor bleeding but I notice that drinking a lot of apple juice seems to help as the pectin in the juice helps lubricate the everything a bit so makes it more bearable, I have a flight to catch in 3 days which is like a 22 hr flight, I am hoping the pain does subside by then or else it will be one very uncomfortable flight. Best of luck to everyone and it does get better in time, drink plenty of fluids and take some Motrin.
I'm a 32 year old female who has had stones since I was 18. Just a few weeks ago I had my stones removed through a cystoscopy and a stent put in. The stent was very uncomfortable but I get the necessity in having it as it keeps the kidney and ureter from swelling shut after the procedure and helps keep pain to a minumum as fragments of stone are passed.. I had it removed a week early though (had it for 3 weeks should have been 4) cause it made my bladder feel horrible.. The removal didn't hurt and I felt good for two days, but then I started to run fever and have excuitiating kidney pain, now I'm on morphine and antibiotics awaiting to see my specialist again as nothing seems to be getting better. I'm upset cause I wasn't aware that any of this could happen and no one really is sure what's going on.. My bladder feels great but my kidney hurts constantly even with being heavily medicated.. Has this happened to anyone else???
Hi there I've had exactly the same experience as you...I'm considered to be a frequent stonemaker I've had about 4 in last 3yrs.....in fact about a week after my last stent was removed (see post) I noticed my BP shot up quite suddenly and I just didn't feel well, I took myself to out of hrs doctor and was admitted by then the pain had begun to cut a long story short I was in agony in hospital for 2 days resulting in an overdose of oromorph....also on antibiotics, docs just wanted to wait and see what was going to happen they suggested it could've been residual blasted stone, even though the pain was totally different to Renal Colic due to stones, they really couldn't tell me what it was. I'm pain free and hopefully stone free. I only started these stones after I had weight loss surgery first stone 6 months after.
I am three days out of a procedure using sound waves to break up a large stone, 3wks prior to surgery I was hospitalized for 14 days after the stone had caused a blockage, I ended up with blood poisoning "septic". This was 5 days in ICU an another 9 days in hospital. I am amazed at the lack of info given. Now I have this horrible stint, constant pain, bleeding, and blood clots. Doctors nurse says I will just be "uncomfortable" until removal in 2wks. The appt. for removal is at the doctors office so I guess once again they don't have any concern as to my pain.
First of all, I'm feeling your pain right now. I've gone through what you went through enough times to know that it's not pleasant.
I've had numerous stents both with & without the string (100+ in my lifetime). I've been battling kidney-stones since the age of 19, and I get them stuck (in the L2-L3 region), requiring laser-cystoscopy, at least once every month or 2.
Having a stent removed WITH the string involves extremely minimal discomfort, in my experience.
Having a stent removed WITHOUT the string, requiring an in-office scoping, is moderately uncomfortable, but still very tolerable... again, in my experience.
There have been removals that have hurt more than others (the one's removed without a string), and it boils down to the wrong size stent being used (my doctor has confirmed this). If the stent used is too short, there will be pain involved in the removal, whether with a string or without a string.
My question to you is, did the actual 'pulling the stent out' part hurt, or was the insertion & removal of the cystoscope the painful part?
If it's the former, then I'd imagine the stent was too short. Ask your doctor to make a note that you require a longer stent inserted next time you have a procedure.
If it's the later, then ask them to administer Lidocaine jelly prior to scope insertion. They'll take a long Q-tip, slather it with Lidocaine, and slowly insert it into your urethra. After that, you'll be so numb, you won't feel a thing.
I've had numerous stents both with & without the string (100+ in my lifetime). I've been battling kidney-stones since the age of 19, and I get them stuck (in the L2-L3 region), requiring laser-cystoscopy, at least once every month or 2.
Having a stent removed WITH the string involves extremely minimal discomfort, in my experience.
Having a stent removed WITHOUT the string, requiring an in-office scoping, is moderately uncomfortable, but still very tolerable... again, in my experience.
There have been removals that have hurt more than others (the one's removed without a string), and it boils down to the wrong size stent being used (my doctor has confirmed this). If the stent used is too short, there will be pain involved in the removal, whether with a string or without a string.
My question to you is, did the actual 'pulling the stent out' part hurt, or was the insertion & removal of the cystoscope the painful part?
If it's the former, then I'd imagine the stent was too short. Ask your doctor to make a note that you require a longer stent inserted next time you have a procedure.
If it's the later, then ask them to administer Lidocaine jelly prior to scope insertion. They'll take a long Q-tip, slather it with Lidocaine, and slowly insert it into your urethra. After that, you'll be so numb, you won't feel a thing.
hi..
i have been through the procedure for the stent removal..
i can be categorized as petite girl.
during the procedure, they put a jelly that to be believe to numb the urethra..
but it wont help at all..
when they insert the scope, the pain sensation was really bad.
for my case, everytime when there is a movement of 'things' at my urethra, the pain was verry bad.
can conclude that the scope and also the stent really hurt me at all..
but after all the thing is put out from my body, the pain are completely gone.
the procedure only take less then 5 mins..
i have been through the procedure for the stent removal..
i can be categorized as petite girl.
during the procedure, they put a jelly that to be believe to numb the urethra..
but it wont help at all..
when they insert the scope, the pain sensation was really bad.
for my case, everytime when there is a movement of 'things' at my urethra, the pain was verry bad.
can conclude that the scope and also the stent really hurt me at all..
but after all the thing is put out from my body, the pain are completely gone.
the procedure only take less then 5 mins..
I left a comment about my stent removal but it's in the Support Communities section incase anyone is interested to read...keep healthy
I hear nothing but pain from every one, kidney stones are no laughing matter. My husband had a stent put in nov. 15th and I can truly say it was a horrifing experience. The doctor warned him, she said without a doubt this is going to be the most painful experience of your life. With that in mind I took him to Harbor Memorial Hospital in Torrance California, I was sitting outside waiting, knowing what was about to happened, the anxiety won't the battle and I started having a panic attack.
The precedure took 45min to an hour. when I saw him he had no expresion on his face, it was total shock. No PAIN MEDICATION, NO ANESTHESIA, this was cruelty at its best. The doctor had a hard time finding her way to the kidney because the prostate was swallen, so was everthing else, so she was pocking around causing tremendous amount of pain, my husband tells me he was about to pass out. My husband is a big guy, the construction type, but this was inhumane.
We went to the doctor today and the 8mm stone still lodge in the kidney, but he has an appointment to take the stent out 1/11/2011
The precedure will be the same NO PAIN MEDICATION so I am searching for an answer, I know in my heart that this is not the only way to do this, what can I do, should I demand that he will be put under? Please help!
The precedure took 45min to an hour. when I saw him he had no expresion on his face, it was total shock. No PAIN MEDICATION, NO ANESTHESIA, this was cruelty at its best. The doctor had a hard time finding her way to the kidney because the prostate was swallen, so was everthing else, so she was pocking around causing tremendous amount of pain, my husband tells me he was about to pass out. My husband is a big guy, the construction type, but this was inhumane.
We went to the doctor today and the 8mm stone still lodge in the kidney, but he has an appointment to take the stent out 1/11/2011
The precedure will be the same NO PAIN MEDICATION so I am searching for an answer, I know in my heart that this is not the only way to do this, what can I do, should I demand that he will be put under? Please help!
i jsut had a stone lasored yesterday. i have a stint that will be removed in 4 days. It has a string and my Dr said that i can pull it out myself. i have had well over a hundred kidney stones but only needed 3 of them removed. When i urinate it burns like crazy. It feels like i am peeing needles. the pain has gotten been 24 hours later but still very uncomfortable. this is the first stint i have had and am very nervous about removing it. I look at it this way. If i pull it out myself i can hopefully control the pain and pull at my own pace. i am ready to get it out no doubt. I don't think i can go through this again, but it seems that my stones are just getting bigger and bigger each time. this one was 6mm.
4 days out of kidney stone removal by scope. dr. Removed 2 out of the left, 2 from the right, and 3 from the bladder. this is the third time in 9 years. Have produced over 50 stones since I was 24, Now 54. This episode has produced the worse pain!!! I have 2 stents and still bleeding at times. will have these removed in 5 days. have found that if I take hydrocodine every 4 hours, the pain is manageable.
I had my stent removed yesterday. It didn't have the string so it was the other type of removal. Yes, it hurt~ A LOT. I have had stones about three dozen times since my early 20's. Yes, it's a painful thing, however, it is your responsibility to ask questions if there is something that you don't understand about the procedures. Not every doctor has a great bedside manner and they assume that if you don't ask you know the answers already. Stones are painful, infections are painful, surgery is painful. Life can be, too. I try to not dwell on it and deal with the pain as best as I can. It doesn't help to be angry about it, but it does help to be well informed so you know what to expect. THey don't anesthetize you for this procedure. It's much more dangerous to do that than to bite the bullet for a couple of minutes that it takes. They can offer a little blue pill to take that minimizes the acidity of the urine and helps with the burning. It started with a "Pro" and was like Urimar that I've had before. Sorry, I know everyone deals with pain differrently, but agitation doesn't help your blood pressure to be upset.
I am so frightented to have my stent removed. I have a stent that was placed following a kidney transplant. It was supposed to come out at 6 weeks. It's been over 5 months and I have an appointment to have it removed on Tuesday. The center I go to is 6 hours from my home and I had a very difficult time getting someone to get me an appointment. It was a series of crazy circumstances that led me to still have this thing in. NOW, they are panicked about it. I'm scared. They told me it could have migrated or be encrusted. I have a lot of questions. I know that it's removed with a cystoscope. I'm a female by the way. If the stent has migrated into the ureter, will they do a ureteroscopy right then? Or what happens if it's encrusted? I do not want to be sedated as I have to drive home the next day. I have a high pain tolerance, but I am a little nervous. Anyone ever have this happen? Will they use a rigid scope? Does that hurt more than a flexible? I've read that they use rigid in female more often than men. Any help would be great!
First I would find me another urologist to take out the stint..
I have had a stint in for three painful days and plan to have it removed on the 6th day. I have a hard time with pain meds since most have codine I am trying to cope with tylenol for pain.. not working!!! . I will say this has been a bad experience for me too. When I stand up my kidney spams causing me to pee. Basically I am homebound until all this is repaired. I also have two tumors and stones in the right kidney so when this is repaired I will have my right kidney removed. I am scared now to have it removed in case I have a recurrance of the stones and they damage the good kidney.. My doctor said he was ging to sedate me to remove the stint..I sure hope so after reading these comments..
Good Luck to everyne with this problem.
I have had a stint in for three painful days and plan to have it removed on the 6th day. I have a hard time with pain meds since most have codine I am trying to cope with tylenol for pain.. not working!!! . I will say this has been a bad experience for me too. When I stand up my kidney spams causing me to pee. Basically I am homebound until all this is repaired. I also have two tumors and stones in the right kidney so when this is repaired I will have my right kidney removed. I am scared now to have it removed in case I have a recurrance of the stones and they damage the good kidney.. My doctor said he was ging to sedate me to remove the stint..I sure hope so after reading these comments..
Good Luck to everyne with this problem.
I just had my first kidney stone taken out and have a stent with a string attached. I was given anesthetic for the procedure but the pain now without the pain meds is unbearable. I can barely walk, breath, sit, etc if I don't have the oxycodone in me. I will have my stent removed tomorrow. I have heard also that having the stent removed is the turning point and it's all uphill from there. Good luck to everyone!
Lynda,
We are not all anatomically the same, and it is more difficult to remove a stent for a man, than a woman. If you can't understand the basic difference then there's no use in discussing it further. Moreover, one procedure might be comfortable for one person, but is excruciating for another person. I have never, ever, heard a person describe stent removal as you have here. I am simply shocked.
We are not all anatomically the same, and it is more difficult to remove a stent for a man, than a woman. If you can't understand the basic difference then there's no use in discussing it further. Moreover, one procedure might be comfortable for one person, but is excruciating for another person. I have never, ever, heard a person describe stent removal as you have here. I am simply shocked.
To anyone wondering if they should take something for pain for ureteral stent removal: prior to having my 1st stent removed, I asked the first urologist if I needed anything for pain. he said "No big deal."
Thankfully, I decided to look it up on the web and read where some people said it wasn't a big deal, but one said, "For the love of God ...take a pain medication!"
That was all I had to read.
I took a percocet. It was the most exquisitely excruciating experience I ever had! Tears instantly came to my eyes and streamed down and I cried out "JESUS!" Not as a swear word but it was a reflexive "HELP!" and it was over. It was fast.
But that set the tome for my concern about everything urological. Unfortunately, that night ..I ended up back in ER with 3 more stones, admitted and back in the OR stented and had it removed in office again and I was so afraid. It was awful.
I have had more stents since then, but thankfully a different urologist and I take 2 or 3 percocet and can still feel it. But ..I would n-e-v-e-r e-v-e-r allow anyone to remove a stent without paon med or in the OR. Fortunately for me, the other removals were in the OR.
I felt like my first two experiences were inhumane compared to second urodoc.
I have experience with this and so I would say ..if you are a person who is stoic or high pain tolerance then go without if you want but if you aren't tell your physician you want to have medication to cover the pain. It is a humane and reasonable patient expectation.
Also there are varying sizes of stents and so that should be a consideration. I had a really small stent removed in office with percocet in me and I was shocked it was out. The first two with other doc were horrendous experiences. then the only other one was a bit larger, but he removed it slowly and that helped ..kind of stop-go stop go and it hurt but I could deal with it. Also, I have found since then if he removes stents slowly I don't get bad kidney spasms afterward. Not as strong anyway.
When I had a long, difficult and painful labor, I only whimpered ..never cried or hollered out. I can take pain. This was beyond what I could handle.
Thankfully, I decided to look it up on the web and read where some people said it wasn't a big deal, but one said, "For the love of God ...take a pain medication!"
That was all I had to read.
I took a percocet. It was the most exquisitely excruciating experience I ever had! Tears instantly came to my eyes and streamed down and I cried out "JESUS!" Not as a swear word but it was a reflexive "HELP!" and it was over. It was fast.
But that set the tome for my concern about everything urological. Unfortunately, that night ..I ended up back in ER with 3 more stones, admitted and back in the OR stented and had it removed in office again and I was so afraid. It was awful.
I have had more stents since then, but thankfully a different urologist and I take 2 or 3 percocet and can still feel it. But ..I would n-e-v-e-r e-v-e-r allow anyone to remove a stent without paon med or in the OR. Fortunately for me, the other removals were in the OR.
I felt like my first two experiences were inhumane compared to second urodoc.
I have experience with this and so I would say ..if you are a person who is stoic or high pain tolerance then go without if you want but if you aren't tell your physician you want to have medication to cover the pain. It is a humane and reasonable patient expectation.
Also there are varying sizes of stents and so that should be a consideration. I had a really small stent removed in office with percocet in me and I was shocked it was out. The first two with other doc were horrendous experiences. then the only other one was a bit larger, but he removed it slowly and that helped ..kind of stop-go stop go and it hurt but I could deal with it. Also, I have found since then if he removes stents slowly I don't get bad kidney spasms afterward. Not as strong anyway.
When I had a long, difficult and painful labor, I only whimpered ..never cried or hollered out. I can take pain. This was beyond what I could handle.
Hi Folks,
If anyone knows what you’re going through – I do!!
I had my first kidney stone at age 15 – I am now 52.
My stones are made of Cystine. The hardest to break up.
I lost track on how many surgeries I have had.
In the past - I always had stents put in with the strings that hung out.
These are no problem – I have pulled them out myself- no doctor’s help.
**BUT- in May of 2011. I had a Nephrostomy tube inserted again. Surgery was done.
I was sent home with the stent in. It was the kind with no string.
It was green with curled on each end. OH MY GOD! This was terrible!
He pulled it out of my kidney- I screamed- He stopped. Then I yelled “PULL IT OUT”!!!
He pulled it all the way out. There were stones formed on the end that was in my kidney.
He was shocked. Then he told me the pain was spasms. He sent me home.
I ended up in the hospital hours later, with pain and passing gravel.
*** Has anyone experienced this?
I also had a problem with swelling? I think this is from the stent?
First my throat swelled. Then my feet, hands, eyes, jaw….
All one body part at a time. As soon as one swelling went down, another body part would swell.
I went to the hospital. I was put on steroids, Benadryl.
Now I keep looking at myself to see what’s going to blow up next.
I have had this surgery so many times over the years with no problem.
But this time was bad. I know I will need it done again. But this time I know what I need to
tell my doctor. I want the orange stent with the string or none at all.
Hope this helps-Helen
If anyone knows what you’re going through – I do!!
I had my first kidney stone at age 15 – I am now 52.
My stones are made of Cystine. The hardest to break up.
I lost track on how many surgeries I have had.
In the past - I always had stents put in with the strings that hung out.
These are no problem – I have pulled them out myself- no doctor’s help.
**BUT- in May of 2011. I had a Nephrostomy tube inserted again. Surgery was done.
I was sent home with the stent in. It was the kind with no string.
It was green with curled on each end. OH MY GOD! This was terrible!
He pulled it out of my kidney- I screamed- He stopped. Then I yelled “PULL IT OUT”!!!
He pulled it all the way out. There were stones formed on the end that was in my kidney.
He was shocked. Then he told me the pain was spasms. He sent me home.
I ended up in the hospital hours later, with pain and passing gravel.
*** Has anyone experienced this?
I also had a problem with swelling? I think this is from the stent?
First my throat swelled. Then my feet, hands, eyes, jaw….
All one body part at a time. As soon as one swelling went down, another body part would swell.
I went to the hospital. I was put on steroids, Benadryl.
Now I keep looking at myself to see what’s going to blow up next.
I have had this surgery so many times over the years with no problem.
But this time was bad. I know I will need it done again. But this time I know what I need to
tell my doctor. I want the orange stent with the string or none at all.
Hope this helps-Helen
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