Fully Covered Stents for Benign Biliary Strictures After Transplant

Five years after stent removal, half of patients remained stent-free.

Biliary strictures remain a common adverse event following orthotopic liver transplantation, despite advances in surgical technique and immunosuppression. Fully covered self-expanding metal stents (FCSEMS) have been used to treat these strictures for many years, but few studies have reported on long-term outcomes.

Now, investigators in Europe and the U.S. have conducted an industry-funded prospective cohort study to determine 5-year outcomes of FCSEMS treatment in 41 patients with benign biliary strictures following liver transplant. FCSEMS were placed at baseline and were scheduled to be removed after 4 to 6 months.

At 5 years after FCSEMS removal or migration, 49% of patients were stent-free; stent migration was associated with lower stent-…

Reviewing Author

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG, AGAF, FASGE

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBSC; Merit; Olympus

Speaker’s BureauAbbVie

Editorial BoardsGastrointestinal Endoscopy

Douglas G. Adler, MD, FACG, AGAF, FASGE

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBSC; Merit; Olympus

Speaker’s BureauAbbVie

Editorial BoardsGastrointestinal Endoscopy

Fully Covered Stents for Benign Biliary Strictures After Transplant

Topics

Reviewing Author