Introduction: Stent treatment can be applied to avoid surgery in surgically risky patients or to turn a high-risk emergency operation into a lower-risk elective operation and save time.
Aim: In this study, the techniques, clinical efficacy, safety and complications of endoscopic stents applied in emergency conditions were evaluated in patients with acute mechanical intestinal obstruction (AMIO) due to colorectal cancer.
Material and methods: Between 2013 and 2015, 23 patients with an average age of 69.5 ±13.5 years who presented with AMIO and anastomosis stenosis secondarily to cancer to the emergency department were subjected to stent treatment under emergency conditions.
Results: Thirteen (56.5%) patients were diagnosed with colon cancer, 5 (21.7%) with rectal cancer, and 5 (21.7%) with stenosis in the previous anastomosis line. Fourteen (60.9%) patients were diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, 7 (30.4%) with stage 3 cancer and 2 (8.7%) with stage 2 cancer. The stents were applied to the sigmoid colon in 10 (43.5%) patients, to the recto-sigmoid area in 9 (39.1%) patients and to the rectum area in 4 (17.4%) patients. While 14 (60.9%) patients had local or locally advanced disease, 9 (39.1%) patients had metastases in different parts of their bodies, particularly in their livers.
Conclusions: The study demonstrates that stents offer a favorable therapeutic alternative to emergency surgery and are associated with promising short-term outcomes as well as an acceptable safety profile for AMIO.
Keywords: colonic obstruction; colonoscopy; stenting.