Ureteral stent tubes usually need to be removed through a cystoscope or ureteroscope under local anesthesia. A ureteral stent tube is a catheter that is left in the ureter to drain urine and prevent ureteral strictures, with one end placed in the kidney and the other in the bladder. The catheter is usually removed by grasping the end of the ureteral stent tube with special grasping forceps and pulling it out of the body through the urethra, usually after the end of the stent tube has been viewed cystoscopically. The duration of the entire procedure is usually relatively short and can be done on an outpatient basis. In the rare cases where the ureteral stent has retracted into the ureter, the stent is difficult to visualize under cystoscopy, and the stent will need to be removed through ureteroscopy.