Should patients with encrusted JJ stents involving the proximal/renal loop undergo primarily endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery?

Background: Ureteral stents are one of the most used devices in Urology, allowing drainage of the upper urinary system, and can be used either in elective or emergency procedures. However, as a foreign body inside the urinary system, they are subject to encrustation. Encrustation is one of the burdens seen with double-J stents and, to date, there is no consensus about its best management. This study aims to prove that Endoscopic Combined Intra-Renal Surgery (ECIRS) is the best choice when there’s an encrusted proximal loop of a ureteral stent.
Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with an encrusted proximal loop of the ureteral stent who underwent surgery at a single center, comparing ECIRS with other procedures.
Results: Between July 2011 and June of 2024, 33 patients (18 females and 15 males) were submitted to surgery. The median indwelling time of the stent was 11 (8-19) months and a stentfree rate of 100% was achieved. The authors demonstrated a significant stone-free rate of 61.1% following ECIRS compared to merely 20% with other procedures (p = 0.023). Notably, while the complication rate was low across all procedures, the ECIRS group exhibited fewer complications (5.6%) than those undergoing alternate techniques (13.3%), though this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.439).
Conclusions: Our study advocates for ECIRS as the preferred initial treatment for encrusted proximal ureteral stents, as it facilitates superior stone clearance, minimizes complications, and maintains comparable operative efficiency. This research contributes valuable insights into the management of challenging cases involving encrusted ureteral stents, calling for future studies to further validate these findings.