Preoperative Drainage for Malignant Biliary Strictures: Is It Time for Self-Expanding Metallic Stents?

Palliation of jaundice improves the general health of the patient and, therefore, surgical outcomes. Because of the complexity and location of strictures, especially proximally, drainage has been accompanied by increased morbidity due to sepsis. Another concern is the provocation of an inflammatory and fibrotic reaction around the area of stent placement. Preoperative biliary drainage with self-expanding metallic stent (SEMS) insertion can be achieved via a percutaneous method or through endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. A recently published multicenter randomized Dutch study has shown increased morbidity with preoperative biliary drainage. A Cochrane meta-analysis has also shown a significantly increased complication rate with preoperative drainage. However, few of these studies have used a SEMS, which allows better biliary drainage. No randomized controlled trials have compared preoperative deployment of SEMS versus conventional plastic stents. The outcomes of biliary drainage also depend on the location of the obstruction, namely the difficulty with proximal compared to distal strictures. Pathophysiologically, palliation of jaundice will benefit all patients awaiting surgery. However, preoperative drainage often results in increased morbidity because of procedure-related sepsis. The use of SEMS may change the outcome of preoperative biliary drainage dramatically.

Status and Literature Review of Self-Expandable Metallic Stents for Malignant Colorectal Obstruction

Use of colorectal stents has increased dramatically over the last decades. Colorectal stents offer an alternative way to relieve fatal intestinal obstruction and can take place of emergency surgery, which associated with significant morbidity and mortality and a high incidence of stoma creation, to elective resection. Although there remain a few concerns regarding the use of stents as a bridge to surgical resection, use of self-expandable metallic stents for palliation in patients with unresectable disease has come to be generally accepted. Advantages of colorectal stents include acute restoration of luminal patency and allowance of time for proper staging and surgical optimization, and the well-known disadvantages are procedure-related complications including perforation, migration, and stent failure. General indications, procedures, and clinical outcomes as well as recent evidences regarding the use of colorectal stents will be discussed in this review.

The Learning Curve for Colorectal Stent Insertion for the Treatment of Malignant Colorectal Obstruction

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to assess the effectiveness of self-expanding metal stent (SEMS) insertion by evaluating the learning curve in relation to the experience of an endoscopist. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 120 SEMS insertion procedures performed by one endoscopist in patients with malignant colorectal obstruction. We compared the technical and clinical success rates, complication rates, and duration of the procedures by quartiles. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients (76 men and 44 women) was 64.6 years. The overall technical success rate was 95.0% (114/120), and the clinical success rate was 90.0% (108/120). The median procedure duration was 16.2 minutes (range, 3.4 to 96.5 minutes). From the first to the last quartile, the technical success rates were 90.0%, 96.7%, 96.7%, and 96.7% (p=0.263), and the clinical success rates were 90.0%, 90.0%, 96.7%, and 83.3% (p=0.588), respectively. Procedure-related complications were observed in 28 patients (23.3%). The complication rates for SEMS insertion when patients were divided by quartiles were 26.7%, 23.3%, 10.0%, and 33.3% (p=0.184), respectively. Moreover, the number of stents per procedure was 1.13, 1.03, 1.00, and 1.00 (p=0.029), respectively. The median duration of SEMS insertion decreased significantly, 20.9 to 14.8 minutes after the first 30 procedures (p=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: An experienced endoscopist was able to perform the SEMS insertion procedure easily and effectively after performing 30 SEMS insertions.

Application of self-expanding metallic stents in one-stage surgery for left-sided malignant colorectal obstruction / 中华消化外科杂志

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) in one-stage surgery for patients with left-sided malignant colorectal obstruction. Methods The clinical data of 97 patients with left-sided colorectal cancer who had been admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from May 2005 to September 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-six patients with left-sided malignant colorectal obstruction were in the test group, after the placement of SEMS, they received one-stage resection and anastomosis; 51 patients with left-sided colorectal cancer (without obstruction) were in the control group, and they received one-stage surgery. The defecation and anal exhaust time, hospital stay and incidence of postoperative complications between the 2 groups were analyzed. All data were analyzed via t test or chi-square test. Results One patient in test group had acute diffuse peritonitis which was induced by intestinal perforation at postoperative day 4, and was treated with radical resection for sigmoid cancer. One-stage surgery was successfully performed on 45 patients, and they were discharged at postoperative day 11-16. One patient died of respiratory infection and heart failure at postoperative day 10. All patients were followed up for 4-48 months. There was no significant difference in defecation and anal exhaust time, hospital stay, incidence of perioperative complications, recurrence, metastasis and survival within follow-up interval between the 2 groups (t=0.164, 1.358, χ~2 = 0.252, 1.200, 0.580, P >0.05). Conclusion SEMS is effective and safe in the treatment of left-sided malignant colorectal obstruction.

Comparison of Self-Expanding Metallic Stenting with Emergency Surgery as First-Management for Obstructing Primary Left-sided Colorectal Cancer

PURPOSE: Emergency surgery has been a conventional treatment for malignant large-bowel obstruction, but is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Recently, self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) have provided a new modality as palliation or bridge therapy for patients with obstructing colorectal cancers. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate whether SEMS is useful in patients with malignant large bowel obstruction. METHODS: Between January 1999 and June 2004, 63 patients were treated for primary obstructing left-side colorectal cancer at the Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital. 32 patients were managed firstly with SEMS (stent group), and 31 patients underwent an emergency operation (emergency surgery group). Clinical data were retrospectively reviewed. The results, including perioperative outcome and survival, were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Clinicopathological parameters, including age, gender, ASA grade, tumor location and stage, were similar between the two groups. The rate of one-stage operations was significantly higher in the stent group (52% vs 13%; P=0.004). The stent group was associated with a lower rate of stoma formation (48% vs 87%; P=0.004), a shorter length of hospital stay (19 days vs 26 days; P=0.048), and fewer complications (7% vs 30%; P= 0.035). The overall and the disease-free survival rates were similar between the two groups (P=0.973, 0.126). The stent group was associated with fewer surgeries needed, shorter length of hospital stay, and fewer complications. CONCLUSIONS: Stenting with SEMS is useful in managing malignant large-bowel cancer with obstruction and may be better than traditional open surgery.