title: A new technique for treating forgotten indwelling ureteral stents: silk loop assisted ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Treating forgotten indwelling ureteral stents is difficult because forgotten stents become encrusted and fragmented. Therefore, we developed a silk loop with which to loop the lower end of a forgotten ureteral stent during ureterorenoscopy to supply a counterforce, which fixed the stent while separating encrusted stones from the forgotten stent. We evaluated the success of the silk loop method.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine patients were enrolled in this study from 1997 to 2003. Each patient had a forgotten ureteral stent with renal stones on the tip of the proximal end. All consented to the procedure of silk loop assisted ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy (URSL) with a Lithoclast (Microvasive, Natick, Massachusetts) lithotriptor.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We successfully removed the forgotten indwelling stent from all 9 patients with the silk loop assisted URSL method.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Silk loop assisted URSL makes the removal of forgotten stents easier. While percutaneous nephrostolithotomy and open surgery produce successful results, the silk loop method is less invasive and expensive, and it minimizes hospital recovery time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chima Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan, Republic of China. dryeh@www.cmuh.org.tw
authors.forename: Chin-Chung
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Chieh-Hsiao
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chia-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chao-Hsiang
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Hsi-Chin
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020878:Device Removal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney; D008096:Lithotripsy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015607:Stents; D013997:Time Factors; D014513:Ureter; D020709:Ureteroscopes; D018666:Ureteroscopy