Abstract
Prototype bioabsorbable stents have been developed for urologicand vascular applications and are currently being evaluated for use in the gastrointestinal and biliary tracts. Self-expanding mesh stents composed of biodegradable materials behave similarly to their wire mesh counterparts, but disintegrate and disappear over time. Preliminary results in patients with malignant biliary strictures are encouraging. These stents may offer long-term palliation without precluding subsequent resection for patients in whom malignant strictures are suspected but not confirmed, or for those in whom curative resection is unlikely but not ruled out. In addition, there may be many potential applications for treatment of malignant and benign strictures of the biliary and pancreatic tract, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small bowel, and colon. Future possibilities for bioabsorbable stents may include drug delivery, gene therapy, and tissue remodeling.
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