Double J Stent

With your consultation you have been found to have a stone down the tube that drains your kidney called the ureter. These stones can block the urine on that side and lead to severe pain, nausea, vomiting and fever.
To bypass the stone in your ureter a piece of plastic called a Double J stent will be placed without an incision on your body but through your urethra and bladder. This piece of plastic will allow urine to go through the stent and around the stent and on occasion allow the stone to pass. That is why after your stent placement you will be given a urine filter that after your surgery you should urinate through to catch a stone if it passes. If you catch a stone, please place it in a zip lock bag and bring to our Urology office and give to Amy my office manager. She will send the stone off for biochemical analysis. This test can often lead us in the direction of why you make stones.
With the approval of your Family Dr. or Cardiologist please discontinue your blood thinner’s [aspirin, Eliquis, Coumadin, ibuprofen, Advil, Aleve etc.] no later than one week before your Double J stent and for an additional three days past your Double J stent and subsequent ureteroscopy with Holmium laser lithotripsy. If you need pain control before or after your biopsy you may use Tylenol, tramadol or the Norco’s we prescribed you.
For your surgery you will be given two medications. Levaquin 750 mg, #10, one a day and Norco 10 mg, #60, one to two pills every 4-6 hours. Please add on a stool softener of choice to prevent constipation.
After your stent placement you may experience some pain with urination towards the end of urination. Try to not urinate to completion. If it becomes severe enough take your Norco for this type of pain too.
The purpose of the stent is to dilate the ureter [the tube draining your kidney] so I have easier access with a scope to go and get the stone in 3 -5 days. Having your ureter dilated with a stent often leads to the ureter remaining a larger diameter so stones on that same side will often pass quicker and with less pain.
You may also experience burning with urination which is from the dilatation of the ureter with the stent and we treat this with both antibiotics and your pain medication.
Should your pain after having your stent placed be so severe it seems to be worse than before your stent placement call me and I will schedule your stent and stone removal generally within 24 hours or so.
My aim with the stent placement is to make you stone free on the stented side within 3-5 days.
If at any time you feel that you are not making progress with your kidney stone, please do not hesitate to contact Amy in my office and express your concerns and I will call and discuss your care promptly.