On 15/9, Doctor Nguyen Van Son, Deputy Head of the General Surgery Department at Hoc Mon Regional General Hospital, stated that the patient had a JJ stent placed at another medical facility but did not return for its removal. For five years, the man experienced almost no pain or discomfort, leading him to forget the stent remained in his body. He only sought medical attention when he developed hematuria and painful urination.

Imaging results revealed the old stent remained intact, encrusted with calcium deposits. The patient also presented with a large stone at the junction of the right kidney and ureter, along with multiple small stones within the kidney.

Doctor Son explained that a JJ stent, also known as a ureteral stent, is a flexible tube inserted into the ureter to facilitate urine flow from the kidney to the bladder when the urinary tract is obstructed, typically by stones. This device should only remain in the body for the duration prescribed by a doctor, after which it must be removed or replaced.

If left in for too long, minerals in the urine can adhere to the stent's surface, creating calcium deposits that then form stones around the tube. This condition complicates stent removal and increases the risk of obstruction, urinary tract infection, and impaired kidney function.

Doctors and nurses at Hoc Mon Regional General Hospital performing surgery on the patient. *Photo: Hospital provided*

For this patient, the prolonged stent retention and complex stones required two stages of intervention. In the first stage, the urology team performed open surgery to remove the large stone at the right renal pelvis-ureter junction and the forgotten JJ stent. Doctors then inserted a new stent to maintain urinary flow and scheduled a follow-up appointment.

Two months later, once hydronephrosis improved, the patient underwent retrograde ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy to address the remaining stones. The medical team left the JJ stent in for three days after this surgery, then removed it before discharge. Follow-up examinations revealed significant improvement in both hydronephrosis and kidney function, with only a few small stones remaining.

Doctors advise individuals who have had a JJ stent placed to diligently note their follow-up appointments for stent removal or replacement, even in the absence of symptoms. Patients should keep appointment slips or set reminders on their phones to prevent forgetting the device inside their body.

Anyone who has had a stent but cannot recall if it was removed, or experiences hematuria, painful urination, or flank pain, should visit a medical facility for examination. Early detection and treatment help to limit the risk of further stone formation and complex interventions later on.

Le Phuong