Grand Journal of Urology
E-ISSN : 2757-7163

Analysis of 79 Patients with Forgotten Ureteral Stents: 10-Year Experience in a Single Tertiary Care Center
Mubariz Aydamirov1, Kadir Karkin2, Zafer Gökhan Gürbüz2
1Department of Urology, Başkent University, Alanya Application and Research Center, Antalya, Türkiye
2Department of Urology, Adana City Training and Research Hospital, Adana, Türkiye
DOI : 10.5505/GJU.2025.47450
Pages : 013-017
Objective: Double J (DJ) stents are frequently used, especially in urological surgeries, to relieve obstruction and provide urine flow from the kidney to the bladder, to heal the ureter, and to prevent complications. In the literature, it was determined that up to 12% of patients with ureteral stents have forgotten ureteral stents. In this study, we aimed to present our 10-year experience of forgotten uretereal stents (FUS) treatment.

Materials and Methods: The medical records of patients treated with the diagnosis of FUS (those with stents for >6 months) between January 2014 and June 2024 were retrospectively reviewed. The reasons for the DJ stent placement, the center where the stent was placed (those placed in our own clinic and forgotten or those placed in an external center and forgotten and referred to us), duration of the stent, symptoms at presentation, and treatments performed were noted.

Results: The study included 79 patients. The mean age of the patients was 49.4±21.3 years, with a range of 25-90 years. Of patients, 60.8% were unaware of the presence of a stent. The mean stent duration was 24±39.4 months (range 6-300 months) and 52 (65.8%) patients had encrustation. There were 4 (5.1%) patients with solitary kidneys. The mean postoperative hospitalization time was 5.6±4.5 days. The majority of patients underwent DJ stent placement after ureteroscopic lithotripsy (34.2%) and due to obstructed ureteral stones (31.5%). The most common symptoms at presentation were storage lower urinary tract symptoms (22.8%), dysuria (21.5%), recurrent urinary tract infection (16.5%) and flank pain (15.2%). Three (3.8%) patients underwent open nephrectomy due to non-functioning kidney. All remaining patients were treated endoscopically.

Conclusion: FUS often causes more morbidity than treatment of the primary disease. Although it can be successfully treated with endourological surgeries, the main goal should be to prevent the development of this complication.

Keywords : endoscopic surgical procedure, ureteral calculi, urolithiasis, urinary catheters
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