Expandable metallic stent placement in patients with benign esophageal strictures: Results of long-term follow-up

PURPOSE: To evaluate the longterm effectiveness of expandable esophageal metallic stents in benign esophageal strictures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors performed long-term followup of 14 expandable metallic stents in 12 patients (aged 16-72 years) with benign esophageal strictures. All 12 patients had initially undergone placement of one stent; two patients received an additional stent because of recurrent dysphagia. RESULTS: No procedural complications occurred. Delayed complications occurred in all patients. New strictures formed in six stents (five patients), migration occurred in seven stents (six patients), and both migration and formation of new strictures occurred in one stent (one patient). New stricture formation caused recurrence of dysphagia and necessitated further treatment. Three of four stents that migrated within 2 months after placement but none of the four stents that migrated more than 2 months after placement caused recurrence of dysphagia. Six patients died of unrelated causes 6-20 months after stent placement. The remaining six patients are still alive 24-48 (mean, 35) months after stent placement. CONCLUSION: The long-term effectiveness of expandable metallic stents in benign esophageal strictures is not encouraging because of the high delayed-complication rate. That the patients with migration showed improvement of dysphagia, however, may warrant further investigation of temporary placement of a retrievable covered stent.