Endoscopic stenting is a medical procedure by which a

stent In medicine, a stent is a metal or plastic tube inserted into the lumen of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open, and stenting is the placement of a stent. A wide variety of stents are used for different purposes, from expandab ...

, a hollow device designed to prevent constriction or collapse of a tubular organ, is inserted by

endoscopy An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are inse ...

. They are usually inserted when a disease process has led to narrowing or obstruction of the organ in question, such as the

esophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the ...

or the colon. There are various types of endoscopic stents: plastic stents, uncovered self-expandable metallic stents, partially covered self-expandable metallic stents, and fully covered self-expandable metallic stents.

Self-expandable metallic stent A self-expandable metallic stent (or SEMS) is a metallic tube, or stent that holds open a structure in the gastrointestinal tract to allow the passage of food, chyme, stool, or other secretions related to digestion. Surgeons insert SEMS by endosc ...

s "play an important role in the management of malignant obstructing lesions in the gastrointestinal tract." A stent may be inserted into the

common bile duct The common bile duct, sometimes abbreviated as CBD, is a duct in the gastrointestinal tract of organisms that have a gallbladder. It is formed by the confluence of the common hepatic duct and cystic duct and terminates by uniting with pancr ...

during an

endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a technique that combines the use of endoscopy and fluoroscopy to diagnose and treat certain problems of the biliary or pancreatic ductal systems. It is primarily performed by highly sk ...

, especially if

gallstone A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of ...

removal is deemed too risky.

Complications

Some complications of metallic stents are: stent migration (occurring in 20 to 40% of the cases). Stents with anchoring flaps or flared ends can reduce the risk of migration. Cholecystitis can be a complication for stenting of malignant biliary stricture. Stent occlusion may occur from tumor or tissue overgrowth, or due to sludge deposits, causing the development of cholangitis.

References

{{reflist Endoscopy

Digestive system surgery Digestive system surgery, or gastrointestinal surgery, can be divided into upper GI surgery and lower GI surgery. Subtypes Upper gastrointestinal Upper gastrointestinal surgery, often referred to as upper GI surgery, refers to a practise of sur ...