Laparoscopic management of a retained heavily encrusted ureteral stent

The indwelling ureteral stent is a fundamental part of today's urologic practice. Since its introduction in 1978, many improvements have been made in stent design and composition to minimize patient discomfort. As a consequence, the patient can forget about the stent. A known and well-documented complication of this situation is encrustations of the ureteral stent which causes significant morbidity to the patient, and at times, they are very difficult to manage. Reports in the literature describe techniques that require several procedures and anaesthetic sessions to effect stent extraction. Here, we report the one-sitting laparoscopic management of a heavily encrusted and stuck DJ stent, with minimal morbidity and very short hospital stay. Laparoscopic management of this common urologic problem has not been reported before. A comprehensive discussion is also presented regarding the management of such problems and their prevention.