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Does A Stent Help Pass Kidney Stones

The Terms Your Doctor May Use:

Why do stents cause some kidney stone patients pain?

Calculi stones

Stones can also have other causes. Read which medical conditions increase the risk of forming stones.

Stones can have other causes as well.

Some people are more likely to form stones than others. You are at higher risk if you have:

  • A family history of stone disease
  • A stone which contains brushite, uric acid, or urate
  • Stones caused by an infection in your urinary system
  • A genetic condition which makes you prone to forming stones
  • A narrowing of your ureters
  • An obstruction at the junction where your ureter meets your kidney

Certain urological conditions may increase the risk of stone disease:

  • Medullary sponge kidney

Some other conditions are also associated with stone disease. These include:

  • Hyperparathyroidism
  • Gastrointestinal diseases
  • Sarcoidosis

Additionally, stone formation is associated with a number of drugs. Please do not stop any prescribed medication unless your doctor advises you to.

What Is A Kidney Stone Stent

A kidney stone stent is a flexible plastic tube inserted between a kidney and the bladder to facilitate the passage of a kidney stone. Also known simply as a stent, a kidney stone stent is simply one of many treatment options which can be considered for kidney stones. If a doctor recommends a stent for a patient, the doctor should be able to estimate how long the stent will be left in, and he or she should articulate a plan for the removal of the stent.

When a kidney stone stent is placed, the patient may be given a general or a local anesthetic, depending on the situation. A cystoscope is inserted into the urinary tract to allow the doctor, commonly a urologist, to see, and the stent is carefully threaded into the ureter and left in place. Coils or J-shaped hooks at either end of the stent keep it place so that it cannot drift once it has been inserted. As a general rule, a kidney stone stent can be left in place for up to six weeks, at which point it will need to be removed.

How Are Ureteral Stents Placed

Ureteral stent placement is a minimally invasive procedure that is typically performed in a surgery center or hospital. The stent itself is placed over a long, thin wire that is fed through the urethra from the bladder to a kidney. This wire is temporarily held into place by a small coil on each end of the wire one end remains in the bladder, the other end remains in a kidney. This wire is fed through the urinary tract using a cystoscope. Once in place, the stent is fed over the wire into the ureter where the blockage is located. Prior to stent placement, your urologist will discuss both pre- and post-op instructions.

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Why Is A Stent Used

A stent is most commonly used to bypass an obstruction of the ureter, to allow the ureter to heal after surgery, and to treat kidney stones. A stent is sometimes placed emergently and can be lifesaving when there is an obstruction of the ureter and an associated infection. If this is due to a stone, the stone is left in place and will be treated later due to the infection.

As an added benefit the stent allows the ureter to passively become larger, which can make the future procedure to remove the stone less traumatic and allow any stone fragments to pass more easily once the stent is removed. A stent is also placed at times during stone surgery to allow the ureter to heal or prevent fragments from obstructing the kidney.

It is most commonly inserted by passing a scope with a camera into the urethra and bladder. The stent is then inserted into the opening of the ureter to the kidney using x-rays to visualize its placement.

To Deal With Inoperable Tumors

Does A Ureteral Stent Help Pass A Kidney Stone

Most of the times, 12 months or higher indwelling times indicate keeping of the ureters in open condition, which further gets compressed due to tumor present in the nearby region of the ureter or because of the ureteral tumor itself. In most of the cases, these are of inoperable tumors and hence, to come up with an appropriate solution, doctors place stents to make sure easy drainage of the urine from the ureter. Reason for this is very simple, if patients and doctors compromise the drainage for a long time, it may cause damage to the kidney.

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How Are These Procedures Performed

Image-guided, minimally invasive procedures such as ureteral stenting and nephrostomy are most often performed by a specially trained interventional radiologist in an interventional radiology suite or occasionally in the operating room.

This procedure is often done on an outpatient basis. However, some patients may require admission following the procedure. Ask your doctor if you will need to be admitted.

Prior to your procedure, your doctor may perform ultrasound, computed tomography , or magnetic resonance imaging exams.

Your doctor may provide medications to help prevent nausea and pain and antibiotics to help prevent infection.

The doctor or nurse may connect you to monitors that track your heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level, and pulse.

A nurse or technologist will insert an intravenous line into a vein in your hand or arm to administer a sedative. This procedure may use moderate sedation. It does not require a breathing tube. However, some patients may require general anesthesia.

If you receive moderate sedation, you will be asleep but have the ability to be awakened. The sedation will be administered and monitored by your physician and nursing staff.

If you receive a general anesthetic, you will be unconscious for the entire procedure. An anesthesiologist will monitor your condition. If you receive conscious sedation, a nurse will administer medications to make you drowsy and comfortable and monitor you during the procedure.

The Mans Sex Cure For Kidney Stones

Source: Study titled Can Sexual Intercourse Be an Alternative Therapy for Distal Ureteral Stones? A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Study by researchers in the department of urology, Clinic of Ankara Training and Research Hospital, and in the department of biostatistics and medical informatics, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, both in Turkey, published in Urology.

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Youre a man. You develop a kidney stone. Ouch. Its not too large, so its the kind that sometimes passes on its own. Your doctor gives you three choices

Just wait and hope that it passes.

Take a prescription medication such as tamsulosin , which relaxes muscles in the bladder, so stones can pass more easily.

Have sex three or four times a week.

And the winner issex! In a study published in the journal Urology, 75 men with moderate-sized kidney stones were put into one of the three groups above. The results

26 of the 31 men in the have sex group passed a kidney stone. Thats about 84%. It took an average of 10 days.

10 of the 21 patients in the Flomax groupabout 48%passed a stone. It took an average of 17 days.

Only eight of the 23 patients in the control groupabout 35%passed a stone. It took an average of 18 days.

Of course, the men didnt actually get to choose which group to be inthey were randomly assigned to a group, to make it a more reliable study.

PRESCRIPTION: SEX?

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What Is The Best Sleeping Position

While doctors havent established a single best position for reducing stent-related discomfort when sleeping, there are some reports that people feel better sleeping on the opposite side where their stent is placed.

However, this isnt backed up by research. You may have to try different sleeping positions to determine how you can get more comfortable.

What Size Of Kidney Stone Will Pass On Its Own

Treatment: Stent pain that can occur after kidney stone surgery.

The size of the kidney stone that passes on its own mainly depends upon the anatomy of the urinary tract of the patient. In a great majority of cases say a five-millimeter stone or a half-centimeter stone has a 50% chance of passing on its own. Stone less than 5cm has increased chances of being able to pass on its own and for every millimeter, after 5mm theres a decreased chance. Although it varies depending upon the extent of inflammation in the urinary bladder. So it really depends on the patient but the general rule thumb is 50% chances of passage for a 5mm kidney stone.

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Things That Can Help You Take A Pass On Kidney Stones

  • By Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch

If youve ever passed a kidney stone, you probably would not wish it on your worst enemy, and youll do anything to avoid it again. “Kidney stones are more common in men than in women, and in about half of people who have had one, kidney stones strike again within 10 to 15 years without preventive measures,” says Dr. Brian Eisner, co-director of the Kidney Stone Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ureteroscopy With Laser Lithotripsy

We will perform ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy while you are under general anesthesia . Over the course of about one hour, we will:

  • Pass a small ureteroscope through your urethra , into your bladder, and up to your stone, either in your ureter or kidney. The scope lets us see your stone without making an incision .*
  • Break your stone into smaller pieces using a small laser fiber, if needed.
  • Remove stone fragments with a small stone basket that we insert through the scope.
  • Place a temporary plastic stent inside the ureter to ensure that any swelling will not block stone fragments that are too small to be basketed or urine from draining. The stent is completely internal and does not require any external parts to collect urine.
  • After a brief observation period, you will be able to go home that same day.

    *Around five percent of the time, the ureter is too narrow for the ureteroscope. If this happens to you, we will leave a stent in place to dilate your ureter. We will reschedule your procedure for two to three weeks later.

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    What Are The Potential Risks Or Complications Of Ureteral Stenting

    As many as eight out of 10 people with ureteral stents experience:

    Your healthcare provider will talk about your likelihood of risk. They will also tell you how to handle any worrying signs while the stent is in place.

    When Kidney Fails To Operate Adequately

    Roller Coasters Can Help Pass Kidney Stones

    Urologists recommend a stent for kidney stones in patients, when the presence of a stone in a kidney prevents the kidney to work in an adequate manner. Placement of ureter stents takes place after kidney surgeries for stones, as in the case of ureteroscopy to help in both healing and prevention of ureters swelling.

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    What If You Masturbate/sex When You Have Kidney Stone

    Kidney stones can be life-threatening if not treated properly and the safest way to get rid of them is to prevent them from happening in the first place.

    Kidney stones give you an understanding that true pleasure is not to be in pain. It makes me happy to inform you that it is totally safe for you to fap. Masturbation is not only safe but also might help to pass the stones. But before you get excited, let me alert you that the size of the kidney stone plays a vital role here. Thus if having a stone greater than 12mm discussing it with the urologist is recommended.

    The reason for the above is, Every time you masturbate an orgasm brings about relaxation in the muscles of the ureter due to which the stones may pass on their own. The other factor is sexual excitement causes the release of nitric acid which relaxes the ureter causing the stones to pass by themselves. So if you have a kidney stone of size varying between 2mm-10mm then you can have sex or masturbate without any stress. Theres no harm and it might help you to pass the stone.

    Note- If you feel any discomfort while performing the act. You are advised to consult the doctor.

    What The Research Says

    According to various clinical trials performed over the years, elimination is more efficient with Flomax for ureteral calculi located in the distal portion of the ureters. This is the area where there is a higher concentration of alpha-adrenergic receptors .

    Studies have evaluated the use of tamsulosin in patients with acute renal colic.

    The results show that patients receiving tamsulosin in the emergency room have a lower requirement of pain medication and anesthetics. They also have a significant reduction in their hospital stay and lower the need for surgical removal .

    These results of applying Flomax in the treatment of kidney stones may even lead to an estimated reduction of 29% in frequency of visits to the emergency department and a 24% reduction in healthcare expenses .

    The 2016 American Urological Association guidelines for the management of stones indicates that alpha-blockers may be beneficial for stones that are less than 10mm. However, research is not conclusive on the use of tamsulosin in the treatment of kidney stones.

    Recent research in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that tamsulosin was not effective in increasing the passage time for stones less than 9mm when compared with placebo.

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    Whats The Prognosis For Someone Who Has Ureteral Stents

    Ureteral stents are generally safe. They dont typically cause any long-term problems.

    Despite the risk of annoying side effects, ureteral stents are helpful. Ureteral stents often allow kidney stones to pass. They also work well to resolve ureteral obstructions. Left untreated, a ureteral obstruction can lead to life-threatening kidney failure and .

    What Are Ureteral Stenting And Nephrostomy

    Kidney Stone Stent with String Removal, pain information and some advice

    Urine is normally carried from the kidneys to the bladder through long, narrow tubes called ureters. The ureter can become obstructed due to conditions such as kidney stones, tumors, infection, or blood clots. When this happens, physicians can use image guidance to place stents or tubes in the ureter to restore the flow of urine to the bladder.

    A ureteral stent is a thin, flexible tube threaded into the ureter. When it is not possible to insert a ureteral stent, a nephrostomy is performed. During this procedure, a tube is placed through the skin on the patient’s back into the kidney. The tube is connected to an external drainage bag or from the kidney to the bladder for internal drainage.

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    How Can I Help My Child

    A ureteral stent sometimes can be uncomfortable and cause some blood in the pee. Here’s how to help your child feel more comfortable until the stent comes out.

    Give medicines as directed:

    • Medicine for bladder spasms: The stent can irritate the bladder, making it . This can be uncomfortable and make your child need to pee often. The stent also can cause pain with peeing, which sometimes is felt over the bladder or the back. Give the recommended medicine for spasms to help your child feel more comfortable. This medicine also can help reduce blood in the pee.
    • Other medicines: If the doctor prescribed other medicines, give them exactly as directed.

    Encourage your child to drink lots of caffeine-free liquids:

    • Drinking and peeing a lot can help kids feel more comfortable and reduce blood in the pee.
    • Send a water bottle to school or childcare to encourage your child to drink throughout the day.

    Watch the amount of blood in the pee:

    • It’s normal for your child’s pee to have some blood in it while the stent is in. As long as it’s light , it’s nothing to worry about.

    Watch for constipation, which can make pain from a stent worse:

    • Many kids have constipation after surgery or while taking medicine for spasms or pain. If your child is constipated, talk to the urologist. Often, medicines and diet changes can help.

    Follow up with the as instructed so that the stent is removed on time.

    Can Sexual Intercourse Helps In Clearing Kidney Stones

    It is logical to assume that symptomatic kidney stones can significantly compromise the quality of sex life, but according to a new study conducted by scientists at a research center at Ankara, Turkey, it was suggested that sexual intercourse can help in the removal of small kidney stones. According to the study reported in the Urology journal , scientists presented statistical evidence that men who engage in sexual intercourse at least three to four times a week, are more likely to pass kidney stones in the urine.

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    What To Expect After The Procedure

    The stent will be removed later on. Sometimes it is used temporarily before stone removal with another procedure.

    Depending on the hospitals protocol, you will proceed to the recovery room or to your own room after the procedure. Your blood pressure, heart rate, and pain will be checked regularly. Ask your nurse about visiting hours for friends and relatives.

    You will likely leave the hospital shortly after the procedure, when you are able to empty your bladder sufficiently and you have no fever or not in too much pain.

    You may feel mild to moderate pain in your lower abdomen, and you may have a strong urge to urinate. These symptoms are usually caused by the inserted stent. Medication is available to treat these symptoms. Do ask your doctor.

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