The justifications for inserting Ureteral Stents are ever-evolving. Nonetheless, there are absolute indications for stent insertion, which include alleviation of blocked pyelonephritis, bilateral ureteral obstruction, obstruction of solitary working kidney, ureteric injury and post-treatment of urolithiasis in patients with solitary kidney. Pre-shockwave lithotripsy to prevent ureteral obstruction from stone fragments and significant ureteral edoema evident at completion of ureteroscopy are other relative indications.
These include relief of pain associated with ureteral obstruction, relief of renal colic during pregnancy, and significant Ureteral Stents edoema evident at completion of ureteroscopy. After ureteroscopy, the use of a stent is dependent on a number of variables. Stones (size, location, and burden/remaining stones), patient factors (anatomy, renal reserve, and sepsis), instrumentation-related factors (type of scope, ureteric dilatation, and intracorporeal lithotripter), and, most importantly, intraoperative factors, such as the presence of ureteric trauma or perforation, are among them. Hence, the choice to use a stent following ureteroscopy is still up for debate.
