My 89 yr. old father had a stent put in his bile duct for a gallstone in October. He has been mostly bedridden due to a fall where he substained a compressed fracture. He has had to go to the doctors in an ambulance, is this really necessary to have removed.
Hi, How are you? I am so sorry to hear about your fathers condition. One thing not clear form your question is whether the stone in the bile duct was removed. Stenting is normally done after ERCP and stone removal to give the bile duct a chance to heal. Once adequate time has elapsed, the stent no longer serves any purpose and hence is removed. The reason it has to be removed or exchanged with a new one at regular intervals is due to the fact that long-standing stents are prone to blockage and infection both of which can have potentially serious consequences. But given your dads condition, and if he does not have any symptoms like pain, fever, jaundice, etc. it is my opinion that you could wait on the stent removal with a very, very low threshold to get it removed if any symptoms arise. Hope this helps, and please do not hesitate to contact me for further clarifications.