Colonic Stenting for Malignant Cancer Obstructions

In patients presenting with acute, malignant, colonic obstruction, stenting is sometimes used as a bridge to surgery and is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality compared with emergency surgery in uncontrolled studies.

To examine this issue in a controlled research setting, investigators randomized 98 patients with left-sided obstruction from cancer to receive colonic stenting or emergency surgery in 25 hospitals in the Netherlands. Stent placement was conducted by endoscopists who had previously placed ≥10 colonic stents.

The overall clinical success rate of stent placement was 70%. In the stent group, two procedure-related and four stent-related perforations occurred, and examination of resected cancer specimens from subsequent su…