Ureteral stents: in search of a rational choice

Background: Over the past decades, ureteral stenting has been widely used as a method of temporary or permanent urine diversion while obstruction of the upper urinary tract. This article is aimed at studying the rational choice of the ureteral stent depending on the clinical situation. Objective: To review the literature of currently available data on the types of ureteral stents, their advantages and disadvantages, indications for their installation, as well as on early and late complications. Methods: The article presents data from literature reviews and original articles from the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Elibrary databases by keywords: ureteral stents, ureteral stenting, types of ureteral stents, indications for ureteral stents. Conclusions: Ureteral stents vary in length, diameter, number of loops, material, and coating. Due to the advantages of silicone stents, they are preferred in most cases. Ureteral stents may be installed in a large number of urological and non-urological diseases, as well as a prophylaxis of iatrogenic ureteral injury before surgical interventions as. A large number of possible complications requires the doctor to observe a patient with an installed ureteral stent for some time. Today, the materials and designs of the ureteral stents are changing in accordance with clinical requirements. An ideal ureteral stent is a stent with the following characteristics: ease installation, replacement and removal, absence of stent-associated symptoms, absence of early and late complications (including allergic reactions), good visualization with x-ray and ultrasound examination and a low price. However, despite of the long period of use of the ureteral stents in urological practice still doesn`t exist ideal stents that meet these criteria. The goal of recent innovations in stent development is to create this ideal ureteral stent.