Placement of metallic esophageal endoprostheses is substantially better than endoscopic laser therapy for palliation of dysphagia in patients with inoperable esophageal carcinoma. Use of uncovered and plastic-covered metallic stents provides equal palliation in patients with dysphagia.
Our experience does not support the routine use of colonic stenting for extracolonic cancer obstructing the colon. A more realistic approach is necessary including either the acceptance that the obstruction represents a life-ending event or proceeding immediately to a colostomy. Decisions should be individualised and stenting used after recognising its shortcomings.
In our own practice, patients undergoing SEMS as a "bridge to surgery" have the same long-term survival with those undergoing elective surgery. This finding needs to be confirmed in larger scale studies.
Complications of barium sulphate studies abound in the literature but there are very few recorded instances of large bowel obstruction due to inspissated barium and faeces forming a 'barolith'. A patient who suffered this complication is reported.
In our experience, the Memotherm Colorectal SEMS was easy to use, was effective in the palliation of obstructing colorectal carcinoma, and appeared to reduce the risk of stent migration.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.