Are Stents a Good Option for Obstructing Colon Cancer?
Karoui M, Charachon A, Delbaldo C, et al.
Arch Surg. 2007;142:619-623

For management of an advanced obstructing colon cancer accompanied by nonresectable metastatic disease, how does stent insertion compare with palliative emergency surgery? The authors studied the outcome of 58 patients treated at a single hospital: 31 had stent insertion; 27 had emergency surgery. Only a single patient in the surgery group died and there was no significant difference in overall morbidity, including over the next 20 months. The length of stay was significantly shorter in the stent group.

Over the past decade, self-expanding stents have become available for the management of obstruction colon tumors. A major advantage is the avoidance of a colostomy. This report further points out that patients who received stents were able to receive chemotherapy about 2 weeks earlier than patients treated with surgical decompression (P = .002) This study supplements a recent review of self-expanding metallic stents for colorectal cancer, which also concluded that expanding stents can be used effectively to manage cancer-related colorectal obstruction.

Abstract