A 20cm catheter 'fell asleep' in the kidney and bladder of an 82-year-old man.

Doctors examine patients after intervention - Photo: VNA

Mr. NVT was brought to the hospital by his family for examination and hospitalization in a state of high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, abdominal pain, and blood in the urine. He had taken medication from outside for about a week but it did not improve.

According to the patient's family, Mr. T. had a history of kidney stones and had undergone laparoscopic surgery to remove the stones a year ago. Doctors placed a JJ catheter in him. This is a hollow tube made of flexible plastic or silicone, placed in the ureter to ensure urine can flow from the kidney to the bladder.

This tube needs to be removed from the patient's body after a period of time depending on the doctor's instructions in each specific case.

However, after being discharged from the hospital and returning home, Mr. T. did not go for a regular check-up as advised by the doctor. Recently, he complained of fatigue, abdominal pain, blood in the urine, and a pale complexion.

His family bought medicine for him to take, but the pain did not subside, so they took him to Can Tho University Hospital for treatment.

Here, doctors examined and conducted clinical tests on Mr. T., concluding that he had chronic obstructive pneumonia, urinary tract infection, kidney stones, acute kidney failure; especially in the right kidney - bladder there were foreign objects covered with stones and decided to perform emergency surgery on June 15.

The JJ catheter, which was more than 20cm long, had turned black and was covered with stones after being removed from the patient - Photo: VNA

Doctors said this was a difficult intervention with many risks due to the patient's old age, many underlying diseases, the large foreign object, and its long-term presence in the body, causing the surrounding mucosa to adhere tightly (also known as mosaic), and during surgery it could cause the ureteral mucosa to be pulled, resulting in very serious complications.

After more than an hour, with the concentration and coordination of many specialties, the foreign object was safely removed from the patient. The foreign object was a JJ catheter (about 20 - 25cm long) that had turned black and was covered with gravel.

After 2 days of intervention, the patient is now conscious, responsive, vital signs are stable, pain symptoms have significantly reduced, no more blood in urine, and can eat and drink. The patient continues to be monitored and examined post-operatively.

Associate Professor, Dr. Dam Van Cuong, Director of Can Tho University Hospital, the main doctor of the surgical team, recommends: when there are signs of unusual pain that lasts for many days, people should immediately go to reputable medical facilities for examination and treatment intervention.

At the same time, after surgery or procedures, especially those involving catheter placement, patients need to remember to return for follow-up visits as advised by the doctor to have the catheter removed, to avoid complications, even life-threatening situations.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ong-sonde-hon-20cm-ngu-quen-trong-than-bang-quang-cu-ong-82-tuoi-20240618080209691.htm