Abstract:

Objectives: Forgotten ureteral stents (FUS) may entail major complications such as infection, migration, encrustation, stone formation, and kidney failure. These complications increase with duration of stent indwelling. We discuss our experience of therapeutic approaches to treatment management of patients living with double J (DJ) stents for more than 10 years. Materials and Methods: Data for three patients living encrusted DJ stents for more than 10 years were evaluated retrospectively. Results: All three subjects stated that they did not present to physicians due to absence of typical stent symptoms (such as hematuria, flank pain, and urgency). All three patients presented to us with urinary tract symptoms. Advanced renal function loss was present in two patients, and non-functional kidney in one. Laparoscopic nephroureterectomy was performed on the patient with a non-functional kidney, and multimodal nephron-sparing surgery on the other two.    Conclusions: Despite all the many advances in technology, long-term encrusted stents lead to sepsis and loss of kidney function. We think that not forgetting is the best means of protection against encrusted stent-related complications.

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