Why is delay dangerous?
A foreign body in the urethra causes pain, bleeding, urinary retention and quickly - urethritis with the risk of stricture. Independent attempts to remove them often drive the object deeper and injure the mucous membrane. The urologist, under local anesthesia, inserts a thin urethroscope, visualizes the object, grabs it with forceps and removes it; If necessary, the stuck stone is crushed with a laser. After the procedure, a catheter may be installed for 1–2 days, and an antibiotic may be prescribed. After 1–2 months, control uroflowmetry is recommended to exclude stricture.
Where do foreign bodies in the urinary tract come from?
Most often these are fragments of medical devices: fragments of catheters, stents, nephrostomies, ligatures and meshes after operations, migrated intrauterine devices; less often - objects inserted into the urethra by the patient himself, and fragments after injuries. A foreign body causes pain, blood in the urine, infection, and over time it becomes covered with salts and turns into stone, so it must be removed as soon as possible.
How to remove
Most foreign bodies are removed endoscopically: through a cystoscope, the object is grabbed with forceps, a basket or a loop and removed through the urethra; long and flexible objects are turned along their axis, inlaid objects are first freed from salts with a laser. Foreign bodies of the ureter are removed using a ureteroscope followed by stenting. For large, sharp or fixed objects where endoscopic removal risks damaging the urethra, a suprapubic approach is used. Antibiotic prophylaxis is mandatory.
