Esophageal stent migration can lead to intestinal obstruction.
BACKGROUND
Self-expanding metallic stents are the devices of choice in the treatment of malign or benign strictures of the esophagus. Stent migration is a well-known complication of this procedure.


OBJECTIVE
We report a case of intestinal obstruction caused by esophageal stent migration, in which surgical intervention was used.


METHODS
A 65-year-old woman, who had a medical history of gastric cancer operations and esophageal stent applications, was admitted to our emergency department with a 48-hour history of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. An emergency laparotomy was performed and the migrated stent causing intestinal obstruction was removed.


RESULTS
The patient recovered without incident and was discharged on postoperative day 3.


CONCLUSIONS
This case illustrates that esophageal stent migration has to be considered as a potential life-threatening complication.
Department of General Surgery, Okmeydaný Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Oguzhan
O
Karatepe
Ersin
E
Acet
Merih
M
Altiok
Muharrem
M
Battal
Gokhan
G
Adas
Servet
S
Karahan