Griffiths et al. attempted to place 25 biodegradable stents in 23 patients identified from a prospective interventional radiological database. The technical success rate was 96% and the clinical success rate was 76%. The authors suggest using such stents might help avoid the need for feeding tubes in patients waiting for esophagectomy or undergoing radical chemotherapy. They do, however, note that there is a high reintervention rate once the stent has dissolved.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Griffiths, E. A. et al. The use of biodegradable (SX-ELLA) oesophageal stents to treat dysphagia due to benign and malignant oesophageal disease. Surg. Endosc. doi:10.1007/s00464-012-2192-9
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Biodegradable stents deliver good dysphagia relief in patients with esophageal strictures. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 9, 245 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.71
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.71
