title: Gastrointestinal stenting.
abstract: Acute obstructions of the gastric outlet, the duodenum, or the large bowel require rapid treatment to relieve symptoms of retention or ileus. Large-caliber stents of 16 to 22 mm offer a new non-surgical alternative for treating these patients with minimal risks and high success rates. For gastroduodenal outlet obstructions palliated by self-expanded metal stents, clinical success rates are in the range of 80-100 %. Preoperative treatment of colorectal obstructions successfully relieves acute symptoms of ileus in 87-100 % allowing primary anastomosis and thereby reducing the costs caused by multiple operations and the need of intensive care by approximately 25 %. It is the purpose of this review to familiarize the reader with the indications, possibilities, and limits of intestinal stenting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Kantonsspital Winterthur, Brauerstrasse 15, Postfach 834, CH-8401 Winterthur, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Zollikofer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jost
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schoch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Decurtins
mesh_terms: D003108:Colonic Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration; D017219:Gastric Outlet Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care; D012002:Rectal Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D015607:Stents