Emergency Drainage Procedures

In certain situations it may not be safe to remove stones. This may be the case if a patient has an active kidney infection (treatment could cause illness) or if a patient has other untreated medical problems.

In these circumstances, pain can be relieved by placing either of the following:

Stent - internal tube between kidney and bladder
Nephrostomy tube - tube inserted into the kidney through the back

While these procedures can be performed quickly and can relieve pain, they do not do anything to treat the stone. In emergency situations, the procedures create time and allow treatment to be performed safely.