Stenting in Esophageal Strictures

Abstract

The interventional management of esophageal strictures remains, to date, an important clinical challenge. Stenting is probably the best palliation modality in patients with incurable esophagogastric carcinoma. Conversely, the use of esophageal stents is still relatively uncommon for the treatment of refractory benign strictures. In the last few years, several new stents have become available as a result of significant advances that have been made in terms of design and materials. This review focuses on the endoscopic use of esophageal stents in malignant and benign esophageal strictures, revisiting the different types of expandable stents presently available, the techniques, the results, and the complications of stent insertion and giving some practical advices. Future developments in the field of esophageal stenting are also discussed.

Stents for proximal esophageal cancer: a case-control study

“…6,7 Use of SEMSs for proximal esophageal malignancies near the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) is controversial because of a perceived increased rate of complications such as perforation, migration, pain, and patient intolerance. [8][9][10] Palliative radiation therapy may be offered for proximal esophageal cancer (PC). Radiotherapy achieves an acceptable degree of dysphagia palliation in 40% of patients, but takes as long as 2 months to achieve results.…”

Polyflex self-expanding, removable plastic stents: assessment of treatment efficacy and safety in a variety of benign and malignant conditions of the esophagus

“…The potential advantages offered by this new generation of expandable plastic stents include decreased rate of tissue ingrowth, new stricture formation and increased levels of radial expansion that potentially decrease the need for dilation at the time of insertion, and the possibility of elective removal [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Experience with these stents in benign conditions is limited.…”

Follow-up evaluation for benign stricture of upper gastrointestinal tract with stent insertion

“…Therefore, permanent uncovered metal stent dilation is not suitable for cases of functional stricture of the UGIT. Permanent partially covered metal stent dilation had poor mid-term and long-term therapeutic efficiency, mainly due to reflux and stent migration [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] . Temporary partially-covered metal stent dilation was used for benign stricture of the UGIT with both excellent immediate and mid-and long-term therapeutic efficacy.…”