Stent encrustation is one of the most serious complications of using double J stents. The management of encrusted stent is challenging, especially in children. To date, only two pediatric cases of stent encrustation, at the expected timing of removal after pyeloplasty, have been reported. In this report, we present a case of ureteral stent encrustation after laparoscopic retroperitoneal pyeloplasty in an 11-year-old girl. She underwent dismembered pyeloplasty for pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction on the left side using a double J stent (6 F, 24 cm, Polaris ™ Ultra). Postoperative course was uneventful, except for mild bladder irritability and asymptomatic pyuria. Nine weeks later, an attempt to remove the stent was made under general anesthesia. This attempt was unsuccessful as the renal coil got stuck in the anastomotic position. A retrograde 6 F flexible ureteroscopy revealed an encrusted stent with calculi. After transurethral lithotripsy with a holmium: yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser, the stent was extracted. Stone analysis showed struvite. At 8-months follow-up, she was stone-free and doing well with resolution of hydronephrosis.
Keywords: children; pyeloplasty; stent encrustation.