After a Digestive Stent: Confirm the Type and Follow-Up Plan

If you have been told a stent was inserted during digestive care, ask the team to put its name and next step in writing. A discharge sheet saying “stent inserted” may leave you unsure which appointment to watch for. Use this checklist to clarify your own instructions.

Get help before finishing paperwork

Contact your clinical team promptly for fever, dark urine with pale stools, severe abdominal pain, severe itching, or jaundice that is not settling or returns. These are contact symptoms listed in the Leeds stent leaflet.¹

Use your discharge instructions for urgent and out-of-hours contact. If a concerning symptom is happening now, seek care before gathering records. Ask the team which additional symptoms require emergency assessment in your situation.

Record the stent details

Leeds’ digestive-stent information sheet records both the stent type and a plan: removal, remaining permanently, or remaining pending clinical review. Its list includes stents in the colon, duodenum, esophagus, pancreas and bile ducts.¹

• Ask where your stent is and what it was inserted to do.
• Request its type, the insertion date and the team that performed the procedure.
• Keep a copy of the procedure report if one is available.
• Have unfamiliar abbreviations explained before writing them into your notes.

Confirm what happens next

For planned removal, the Leeds sheet leaves space for an individual timeframe and advises contacting endoscopy administration if no date arrives by then. For stents remaining in place, follow-up is with the referring team.¹

• Ask which plan applies to your stent and why.
• For removal, write down the target date or timeframe and who arranges the appointment.
• For continued use or review, confirm the responsible clinic and when it will contact you.
• Ask whom to call if the appointment does not arrive.

Match daily instructions to your stent

• Get your own written food, drink and medicine instructions. Ask for clarification if different sheets disagree.
• Confirm what you should do if eating, drinking or taking prescribed medicine becomes difficult.
• Ask the team to explain any restrictions and when it will review them.

Keep the contact plan together

Put the daytime and out-of-hours numbers beside the follow-up date. If another clinic will handle the next step, ask how it receives your procedure details and whom you should contact meanwhile.

Bloated by Dinner includes a Test It list and visit script. Use them to organize the questions you want answered and keep your stent details with the clinical instructions.