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Severely painful spasm episodes after stent removal

Stone Fighter #775F1FStone Fighter #775F1FMay 16, 2026👁️ 2.8k❤️ 101
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Update 1 (3 days after stent removal): I managed to navigate the day with only paracetamol, Ibuprofen, and hot water bottle, which is a great improvement vs. having to continue taking the oral morphine. I stopped everything else including even the Tamsulosin & Oxybutynin. I had to drink crazy amounts of water (3 - 4L per day) and pee every 20 minutes. Only minor stinging now.

Update 2 (5 days after stent removal): First day to navigate without taking anything. I still have minor stinging but it's perfectly manageable. I noticed however that uring flow is a bit not too strong. I'm still confused and I don't know if there is something I should do or if this was normal part of the process.I am still trying to take a lot of water in (3 - 4L per day). All I'm hoping for is that there is no crazy blockage that my body got used to or anything.

Original Post:

Hi,

I had a mini PCNL on the left kidney last Thursday to remove a 2.5cm kidney stone. The surgeon put a stent in which was removed four days later (yesterday). Removal took seconds and I went home fine.

A few hours after returning home, I started getting awfully painful spasms like a renal colic on the left lower abdomen. It hurts like hell. I tried Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Tamsulosin (flomax), Oxybutynin, hot water bottle on the abdomen. Nothing worked and I was rolling on the bed in agonizing pain. I remembered that they sent me home after the surgery with a bottle of oral morphine which I didn't even need to use in the first 4 days. I opened it and took 2.5ml, and within 20-25 minutes the pain subsided.

I relatively slept most of the night, but at 5AM it came back and woke me up. I tried the same things for about an hour and nothing worked and I was in torturing pain, so I took another dose of oral morphine, again it subsided.

I was fine for almost 12 hours until 5PM today, then it all came back, again, agonizing pain, nothing working, had to take a 3rd dose of oramorph, it went away.

It's almost 10PM now and I can feel it starting to come back again. The pain always starts light when I go to urinate, then it just keeps increasing more and more until everything in my abdomen spasms. I drink plenty of water as instructed (2-3 litres per day at least).

Is this a sign for something wrong with the surgery? Should I be worried and go back to hospital? Is this normal? When will this go away?

Any help is really appreciated.

Comments (4)

Stone Fighter #05E835Stone Fighter #05E835Apr 29, 2026

4 years ago this started for me as well and I now have loin pain hematuria syndrome which stemmed from a stuck stone / months long untreated infection due to the doctor not believing me and a stent irritating my ureters even more after he caused damage during the surgery to blast the stone. I have daily 24 hour debilitating pain in my left flank that’s caused me to be on medical for 3 years and lost my quality of life and still trying to find pain management that will work for more then a few...

Stone Fighter #9910E2Stone Fighter #9910E2Apr 29, 2026

I had my ureteroscopy at the beginning of April, they told me my ureter was too tight and I got a stent put in. This is the same thing that happened when I had them the first time. I was sent home with no painkillers and told to take paracetamol and Nurofen, the stent pain and the cramping from the stent was Honeslty the same level as the stones- it’s excruciating. Can’t sit still, vomiting, feeling like you’ve got shot in the back, I had to contact The out of our hospital and get prescribed...

Stone Fighter #F48373Stone Fighter #F48373Apr 30, 2026

Spasms after stent removal are common, and what you're describing sounds exactly like ureter irritation from the procedure itself. My second stent removal was awake and that was the worst part of both surgeries combined, so I get why you're in this much pain right now. The medication combo you tried is standard, but sometimes it just takes time for the ureter to settle down. A few days of this level of spasm isn't uncommon after instrumentation. If it gets worse or doesn't improve in the nex...

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