title: Advances in gastrointestinal intervention: the treatment of gastroduodenal and colorectal obstructions with metallic stents.
abstract: Metallic stents are currently an established component of the endoluminal treatment of stenoses within the blood vessels, bile ducts, esophagus, trachea, and bronchi. With the development of newer stent designs and delivery systems and the general momentum toward minimally invasive therapies, metallic stent placement has expanded into the nonsurgical therapy for gastroduodenal and colorectal obstructions. The use of metallic stents within the stomach, duodenum, or colon is intended not to be curative but to provide nonsurgical palliation for the symptoms of gastric or colonic obstruction. This palliation may be intended for the life of the patient in the case of unresectable disease or as a temporizing procedure prior to a definitive surgical procedure. In the latter clinical scenario, the benefits of a minimally invasive intestinal decompression procedure include (a) quick and noninvasive relief of the intestinal obstruction in an acutely ill patient that obviates a more extensive procedure; (b) allowance of time to improve a patient's overall medical condition and thus to allow a patient to better tolerate the definitive surgical procedure; and (c) reduction of the complexity of the definitive procedure by eliminating the need for staged procedures and allowing the definitive procedure to be performed at one setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 2759, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mauro
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Baron
mesh_terms: D003108:Colonic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D004380:Duodenal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D004867:Equipment Design; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D017219:Gastric Outlet Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D015641:Radiography, Interventional; D012002:Rectal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects