Ureteral Stenting

Your physician has referred you to the Diagnostic Services Department at United Hospital Center for a Ureteral Stenting.

Ureteral Stenting consists of placement of a guidewire through your nephrostomy catheter into your bladder.

If you are currently not a patient in the hospital, you will be asked to report to the hospital registration department two (2) hours prior to your scheduled exam. After registration, you will be escorted to a hospital room where you will be prepared for the exam. An intravenous (IV) line may be inserted into a vein in your arm.

Upon arrival to the Diagnostic Services Department, you will be asked to sign a consent form. You will then be placed on a radiographic table. During the procedure anesthesia will be administered to relieve any pain you might experience.

After the radiologist has placed a guidewire through your nephrostomy catheter and into your bladder, your nephrostomy catheter will be removed. The radiologist will then insert a ureteral stent over the guidewire. This stent will provide you with normal urinary drainage without the use of a nephrostomy catheter.

Once the procedure is complete, the radiologist will reinsert your nephrostomy catheter and it will be left in place a short period of time to ensure that the ureteral stent is going to drain properly. The nephrostomy catheter can later be removed.

Once the procedure is complete, you will be taken to a hospital bed to be watched and evaluated.

Risks involved with this examination include: infection, reaction to contrast medium (x-ray dye), and/or perforated ureter.

Your physician feels the benefits of this procedure outweigh the risks and would aid in the treatment of your medical condition.

Please DO NOT eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your scheduled exam. However, you may take your medications with small sips of water, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

LENGTH: Procedure time approximately 2 hours (total hospital time 6-8 hours)

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, tell your doctor and the technologist BEFORE your exam.