title: Palliation of obstructing malignant colonic lesions using self-expanding metal stents: a single-center experience.
abstract: To evaluate the efficacy, risks, and survival after palliative colorectal stenting at a single center, we conducted a retrospective review of consecutive patients who had colorectal self-expanding metal stents (SEMSs) inserted over an 8-year period (September 1998 to September 2006) to relieve an obstructing colorectal tumor. All patients either had proven distant metastases or were unfit for surgical decompression. A single interventional radiologist (R.M.) inserted the stents, which were either Memotherm or WallFlex. Ninety-one patients with a median age of 73 years had a colorectal stent inserted for palliation of an obstructing colorectal malignancy. Technical success was achieved in 81 of 91 (89%) patients, and clinical success in 80 of 81 (99%). At the time of analysis (December 2006), 13 of 91 (14.2%) patients were alive. The patients who died had a median survival of 59 days, IQR 17-181 days. Seven (7/81) patients suffered stent migration, which occurred 10.3 days (IQR, 5-14 days) after the procedure. Three patients (3/81) re-presented with intestinal obstruction secondary to tumor ingrowth and 10 (10.9%) patients suffered bowel perforation. Ten patients (10.9%) had two stents inserted coaxially and overlapping in one procedure. This was performed in cases where the stricture was too long to be easily crossed by a single stent. We conclude that colorectal SEMS is a safe and effective mode of treatment for the palliation of obstructing colorectal cancers, which avoids high-risk surgery.
authors: Department of Radiology, Freeman Hospital, Freeman Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK. vivshriv@yahoo.com
authors: Vivek
authors: V
authors: Shrivastava
authors: Omar
authors: O
authors: Tariq
authors: ReeNee
authors: R
authors: Tiam
authors: Christiane
authors: C
authors: Nyhsen
authors: Ralph
authors: R
authors: Marsh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011336:Probability; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015607:Stents; D016019:Survival Analysis