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Avatar universal

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?
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Avatar universal
I was not told what the pain of a stent would involve, didn't even realize my pain was from a kidney stone til the doc arrived with a transporter to take me to surgery.  Was unmedicated for pain most of the time in the hospital, the nurses were stealing my morphine, not telling me until my third day there I was allowed it every 3 hours.  When the doc was about to remove the stent in his office, I asked about pain help prior, and he said it is pointless to insert lidocain in women since it slips right into the bladder and doesn't help.  Later I was reading his notes in the 'patient portal' where he had written that he 'gave the patient lidocain' prior to the removal, then emptied the bladder, neither of which he actually did.  I am angry because I assume he is going to charge my insurance for it while not actually helping me by inserting it.  I am a retired medicare patient.  I can't help but wonder if the doctors who will still treat us have to pad their bills to make helping us financially feasible.  
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Avatar universal
I had a laser lithotripsy with basket removal done last Friday for a 6 mm stone.   I have been nervous about the removal of the stent which occurred this morning.  I am happy to report that my fears were unfounded.   I had the stent removed at 8:30 am and it is now 5:30pm.   I have a couple of observations.  It is not clear if others who reported extreme pain had the "basket extraction" done.   What this means is that after the stone is broken that all the pieces are actually removed during the surgery.  There are no stone fragments larger than a grain of sand that the patient has to pass.   If you did not have the extraction, then the stone fragments are left to pass.  I wonder if those who had extreme pain still had fragments that caused their pain.   The other observation is that before I went in this morning I had come across an article that written by a UCLA urologist who studied the pain that roughly 50% of the his patients were experiencing.  He found that if the patient took 220mg of Naproxen (Alieve) 15 minutes before the removal that it reduced the pain significantly.  I followed that procedure and it seems to be working for me so far.   I do have some blood in my urine but really no pain.   I spent so much time reading every horror story on here, that I thought others might find it helpful if I posted my experience.  The article I mentioned can be found here:  http://www.kidneystoners.org/information/severe-pain-after-stent-removal-how-often-does-it-happen-and-can-anything-prevent-it/#comments
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Avatar universal
I have been two J hook Cystocopy surgeries, and now will have Stent pulled out. The surgeries were the most painful I ever went through, and my bladder over filled to complicate things. I now have a stent in that is coming out tomorrow, and I am scared ******less. I have been shot, and stabbed in Nam, and that pain was nothing compared to this kidney thing. When the stent comes out, how long before can resume a normal life? I have lost 20lbs over the past 5 weeks, and need to get my life back. Help if you can with exactly what to expect. Can I pee normally after. I expect blood, but I need to pee. my feet swell up, and I am thinking the worst. Man, I am 73 years old, and had one huge stone with no warning from Doctor about the excruciating pain to expect. If you can help me, just email me at ***@****
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Avatar universal
Am a male, 25 yrs. I had a 6mm stone stuck in the ureter. The pain which I felt was the worst one I had in my entire life. Went to the urologist and he said there is no way it will go with medication and they need to break it, else there was a possibility of kidney infection. Got admitted and they broke the stone and placed a stent so that the broken particles don't block the ureter. It has been 40 days, and today I went to the doc to had the stent removed. Well before entering the hospital I did a lot of research abt whether anyone felt any pain while it is being pulled out, and I was not surprised that almost 60% of the respondents felt quite a bit of pain. That did shook me. I was called in to the operating room, asked to lay down on the table, put my legs on the supporting cushions which were a foot higher then the table, the nurse tied my legs and inserted some kind of gel inside my "little johnny ". I felt as if I was peeing inside but the pee was a lump . Then the doc came in, and inserted the tube, the nurse held my hand and even before I could think what has happened the stent was out. My goodness I won't want to face situation like this again. It was painful a bit, on a scale of 0 to 10, I would rate the pain and discomfort at 4. I could walk straight away .
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had a stent removed this past Friday and this one had a string but everything was on the inside.  I am a 45 year old male and I had this surgery about 20 years ago the stent had a string coming out and looped and taped to the end of,,, well, you get the picture....   It was bothing me so bad on the 3rd night that I actually pulled the thing out myself,,,, which was really stupid but I felt so much better after I did,,, the doctor told me I was the first one he had known to do such a thing,,,, anyway, back to this past Friday,,,,  They set me up with the Cystoscopy where they were to go in and grab the string on the inside.   The beginning was very hard but when the doctor said out loud "You got to be kidding me", I popped up quickly as I could and asked what????   He said "String Broke"!!!!   I wish I had passed out because he had to go back in 3 or 4 times back and forth before he finally got ahold of the stent and pulled it out.   I thought the 6mm stone was bad,,,, I really hope no one had to go thru that kind of pain.......
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have had 4 stents 2 in each side over the past 2 months-    i have to say - you need to find a doctor who will do this in an OR suite under anesthesia-    I am not saying it will be a walk in the park- but there is no reason you should be awake for this - as a matter of fact- you need to not move - so that they do not do any damage to the very small and sensitive area they will be working in.  And trust me- there will be some discomfort after you wake up- but nothing a few Tylenol and and oxycodone wont fix...  FIND a new Doctor!!!
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Avatar universal
I. Just had a stent removed and I'm in more pain now then when I had it in .It has been 2 wk and now I can't eat and I have the diarrhea. I call the Dr office and they never call back. This is my second surgery first one didn't go so well but I was better by now..
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had a stone for the first time end of last year and had a stent removed in a doctors office. It was excruciating to the point they almost sent for an ambulance as my boyfriend could not get there fast enough. They told me the reason I had the pain was because there must of been another stone in there. I had more pain than the first time I went in for the original stone. Now I have something wrong with me and I am trying to find out if it is related. I look like I am pregnant. I can eat the smallest item and I swell up. I am looking for answers. I am also nauseated a lot again like I was before my stone. I am so confused.
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Avatar universal
I'm going for surgery on Wednesday but l'm getting out the stent on Friday will l be able to get the surgery done
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4822967 tn?1367656696
I had different type of surgery but did have a stent in each kidney itself.  I had my bladder removed and a stoma formed so urine would permanently drain into an external bag. I had a stent in each kidney for the first 10 days (was in hospital just over two weeks.  they told me it may be a slightly uncomfortable sensation but to be honest I felt  little if anything. Maybe by then the extreme post surgery agony of the bladder removal etc had upped my tolerance lol
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Avatar universal
I had my transplant in 2009 but spoke to patients who had previously had the the stent removal. They said it was painful so i opted for a GA. No problem whatsoever the op went well and no post operation pain. well done NHS.
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Avatar universal
I was one of the many frightened to have my stint removed in the doctor's office.  I had read a number of accounts from those who experienced pain.  Yesterday, I had my left stint (right stint to be removed in 4 weeks) in the doctor's office.  The preparation time took longer than the stint removal.  I was given a Cipro to counteract any possible infection and a small pill (turns your urine orange) to counteract the possible burning when urinating following the procedure.  I was asked to undress from the waist down, sit on the table and placed with a large cover over my lower half.  The doctor came in and gave me a shot to ease the pain and calm my nerves.  Then I was asked to lean back with my ankles together.  In less than 2 minutes the stint was out.  There was no pain and only a few seconds of slight pressure.  I'm back at work today.  Except for some continuing pain from the right stint, and a bit of blood in the urine....I am GREAT!  Please don't worry about having this procedure done in the doctor's office.  It's really not bad at all.  The worry was worse than anything.  I too was use to having the procedure done under general anesthesia so I was worried.  Don't worry.  It'll be okay.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had my stent removed this morning. It took about a minute but the worst part of it all was worrying about it. I am a 48 year old male and it was litterally pain free, as long as I stayed relaxed and didn't tense up. Reading some of the horror stories here really scared me. I did hurt really bad about an hour after the procedure was done and the pain lasted a good 3 hours. The pain was located in my kidney. I called the doctors office and they told me it was spasms associated with the procedure. So to the guys out there who are worrying themselves to death about this, don't be. Just relax, don't tense up and it will be over with very quickly. This was my experience and I hope it helps someone.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Coming out of my second lith and not looking forward to my second stent removal, I made plans for the second one to be pulled out under general.  

I think the quality of stents and amount of wound response around the stent also play a big role, but at a minimum, just the damage that happens from the cysto going through the urethra each time to get the stent from the ureter is going to cause stinging and irritation afterwards, and there not much you can do about that.  ''Most' humans urethras did not evolve to be a two way street (in fact to minimize infections selection is very much the other way), so no matter what, the burning urination will be there when things go the wong direction in there and rough things up. But that usually goes away after a few days. Fortunately your ability to urinate full stream comes back pretty quickly though.

Personally, when  I went for the office cysto stent removal the first time from litho for a 10mm stone in the UVJ with the 'evil claw' I nearly cleared out the entire office floor with how loud I screamed. My expectation was that it would be a non issue, driving in in the middle of the day from work figuring it would be like pulling out a few sutures or something.

Maybe it was the stent, maybe the wound response to the stent, or just call me a sissy, but when that evil claw got hold of the stent and they start pulling it, I could only think of a particular torture method used during the inquisition.  

Yes, the Intestinal Crank! This method of torture - or rather capital punishment - involved making an incision in the abdominal area, separating the duodenum from the pylorus, and attaching of the upper part of the intestine to a crank. The crank would then be rotated to extract the intestines from the gastrointestinal cavity of the still conscious person. The outcome was always death, but not immediately.

OK, I know that sounds horrible, and a bit overdone, but its just a gentle reminder to those that find cystoscopy and stents painful to start with and the claw a fearful device for stent removal that you should request either

A- quick general for removal if you are in good health and low risk (uro does not like to share money with the anesthesiologist so he'll push back if he can)
B-Or a large gag to bite down on and some PO narcotic if your insurance does not cover.

Unfortunately, if people dont speak up on this enough we wont ever get any improvements in the procedures and devices (if a better stent means no general for removal, the device companies of the world will do more and docs will buy them, and insurance companies will cover them).  








Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Coming out of my second lith and not looking forward to my second stent removal, I made plans for the second one to be pulled out under general.  

I think the quality of stents and amount of wound response around the stent also play a big role, but at a minimum, just the damage that happens from the cysto going through the urethra each time to get the stent from the ureter is going to cause stinging and irritation afterwards, and there not much you can do about that.  ''Most' humans urethras did not evolve to be a two way street (in fact to minimize infections selection is very much the other way), so no matter what, the burning urination will be there when things go the wong direction in there and rough things up. But that usually goes away after a few days. Fortunately your ability to urinate full stream comes back pretty quickly though.

Personally, when  I went for the office cysto stent removal the first time from litho for a 10mm stone in the UVJ with the 'evil claw' I nearly cleared out the entire office floor with how loud I screamed. My expectation was that it would be a non issue, driving in in the middle of the day from work figuring it would be like pulling out a few sutures or something.

Maybe it was the stent, maybe the wound response to the stent, or just call me a sissy, but when that evil claw got hold of the stent and they start pulling it, I could only think of a particular torture method used during the inquisition.  

Yes, the Intestinal Crank! This method of torture - or rather capital punishment - involved making an incision in the abdominal area, separating the duodenum from the pylorus, and attaching of the upper part of the intestine to a crank. The crank would then be rotated to extract the intestines from the gastrointestinal cavity of the still conscious person. The outcome was always death, but not immediately.

OK, I know that sounds horrible, and a bit overdone, but its just a gentle reminder to those that find cystoscopy and stents painful to start with and the claw a fearful device for stent removal that you should request either

A- quick general for removal if you are in good health and low risk (uro does not like to share money with the anesthesiologist so he'll push back if he can)
B-Or a large gag to bite down on and some PO narcotic if your insurance does not cover.

Unfortunately, if people dont speak up on this enough we wont ever get any improvements in the procedures and devices (if a better stent means no general for removal, the device companies of the world will do more and docs will buy them, and insurance companies will cover them).  








Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I feel ya,lls pain they dont do people right that dont have money and its a sick world we living in today.. I was raised very poor and could not afford insurance when i was about 20 or so.. I had work done on my females because i had cancer cells on my ut. I was sent to a doctor and told i had to pay 200.00 for them to burn them off.. They gave me one pill to com me down and it was not a pain pill... So i think it was the worst 10 mins of my life.. while they burnt them off... Now i have had these kidney stones removed and stent put in.. I am having a lot of pain when i go to the bathroom and sometimes not even but a small amount coming out with just pain period... They wanted me to come get it took out this morning without being any pain medication... She told me it would only take about 5 mins but idk because they told me that they would be little pain with the stint and after a few days i can say that was bs!! Cause i am in more pain now than i was with the stones... Its a cold world we live in i feel no one really cares anymore long as they make a buck that is what it is all about!!!
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Avatar universal
When it comes time to have the string pulled, go to a public hospital and not a military one. Make sure you are medicated when they pull it.. if not knocked out. This was the most painful part of the operation for me. Words can not describe the pain. It was like being stabbed multiple times in both front and back and I am at a complete loss for words for the sensation of the string pull.
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Avatar universal
I feel pain to. It has been three weeks since my string came out.
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Avatar universal
I feel pain to. It has been three weeks since my string came out.
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Avatar universal
I had a stent for 18 weeks and I must admit it was the most miserable experience I have ever endured!! Had the stent removed yesterday and having  read all the comments here I was really scared to say the least. So much so that when the doctor told me I really panicked. It was a bit uncomfortable and only took a few minutes.So far so good,no problems other than a bit of bleeding and slight discomfort for a short while. Everyone is different please anyone who reads these comment remember this. I have got my life back and it's wonderful
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Avatar universal
I agree its worst thing i ever had done.I still have my kidney stones.He put the stent in before,Iam 48 this week and never had a uti till this.and the uti has never left the whole time the stents been in.Ive been on antibiotics this whole time.Now i face the scarryest point in my life.Iam afraid this is just getting worse.Iam 4foot 10 with a 22inch doubble j and its change my life.
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Avatar universal
I feel ya.My stent has been left in so long over 6 months now and has calcafied.The doctor also refused to remove my stent.I have been in sever pain all this time .And he never answers me about the pain.I finaly demanded it be removed thats how we found out it went bad.He never examined the stent the whole 6 months.And he told me if he removed the stent he would no longer be my doctor.I didnt care!! I just want this out.I cant sit ,stand, sleep and ian now on depprsion meds becuse of it.and i will be going to uam to see if they can remove it on the 2 of november.And he also didnt tell me about these side affects.
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Avatar universal
I feel ya.My stent has been left in so long over 6 months now and has calcafied.The doctor also refused to remove my stent.I have been in sever pain all this time .And he never answers me about the pain.I finaly demanded it be removed thats how we found out it went bad.He never examined the stent the whole 6 months.And he told me if he removed the stent he would no longer be my doctor.I didnt care!! I just want this out.I cant sit ,stand, sleep and ian now on depprsion meds becuse of it.and i will be going to uam to see if they can remove it on the 2 of november.And he also didnt tell me about these side affects.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
A bit shocked to read your comments.

I have re read my posts and can not understand what I have said to annoy you so much.

Of course we all have our own experiences ,I told you mine and found that drinking a lot of water can help.

Hope you are well now anyway.
Helpful - 0
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