Purpose: To investigate the technical feasibility and clinical effectiveness of a dual expandable nitinol stent in the palliative treatment of malignant gastroduodenal strictures.
Materials and methods: The dual stent consisted of two stents, an outer partially covered stent and an inner bare nitinol stent. The outer diameter of the stent delivery system was 3.8 mm. With fluoroscopic guidance, the outer stent was placed into the stricture, followed by coaxial placement of the inner stent. The stent placement was attempted in 102 consecutive patients with malignant gastroduodenal strictures. The underlying causes of malignant strictures were gastric cancer (n = 55), pancreatic cancer (n = 24), gallbladder cancer (n = 7), cholangiocarcinoma (n = 5), duodenal cancer (n = 5), and metastatic cancer (n = 6). All patients presented with symptoms of gastric outlet obstruction.
Results: Stent placement was technically successful and well tolerated in 101 of 102 patients (99%). After stent placement, 85 of the 101 patients (84%) with technical success experienced improvement of their symptoms. Tumor overgrowth occurred in five patients, stent migration in two, mucosal hyperplasia in one, bleeding in one, and jaundice in two. Seventy one of the 101 patients died 5 to 340 days (mean, 71 days) after stent placement from progression of their disease, myocardial infarction, bleeding, or sepsis. The remaining 30 patients are still alive 6 to 227 days (mean, 39 days) after stent placement. The 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, and 180-day survival rates were 78%, 58%, 39%, and 8%, respectively.
Conclusion: The dual stent with a 3.8-mm stent delivery system is easy to insert, safe, and reasonably effective for the palliative treatment of malignant gastroduodenal strictures.