ObjectiveThis study aimed to compare two self-expanding stents, a nitinol stent and an
elgiloy stent, both placed percutaneously, in terms of their efficacy in
palliating inoperable malignant biliary obstruction.Materials and MethodsWe retrospectively investigated 99 patients with unresectable malignant
biliary obstruction treated with percutaneous placement of a self-expanding
metallic stent at our institution between May 2007 and January 2010. Serum
bilirubin and liver enzyme levels were measured before and 30 days after
stenting. For all procedures using elgiloy or nitinol stents, stent
occlusion and patient survival rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meyer
analysis.ResultsAll of the patients showed clinical improvement after stent placement, with
no difference between the two groups. In both groups, the occlusion-free
survival rate was 67% at 30 days, 37% at 90 days, 25% at 180 days, and 10%
at 360 days, with no significant difference in relation to the type of
stent.ConclusionThe two stents evaluated showed comparable efficacy for the percutaneous
treatment of unresectable biliary malignancy, with good clinical
results.