Endoscopic placement of a self-expandable metal stent for malignant small-intestine obstruction using a digital cholangioscope-guided approach.

Abstract

For malignant gastrointestinal obstruction in inoperable patients, the self-expandable metal stent (SEMS) is a useful nonsurgical palliative treatment to improve patients’ quality of life [1] [2] [3] [4]. The common method of intestinal stent placement is to navigate the guidewire through the narrow segment, which often takes a long time, and sometimes leads to stent placement failure because the guidewire cannot pass through the narrow segment. Here, we describe the successful endoscopic placement of an SEMS using a guidewire after a digital cholangioscope was used to pass through the narrow small intestine.