Esophageal metal stent for malignant obstruction after prior radiotherapy

The association between severe adverse events (SAEs) and prior radiotherapy or stent type remains controversial. Patients with esophageal or esophagogastric junctional cancer who underwent stent placement (2005–2019) were enrolled in this retrospective study conducted at a tertiary cancer institute in Japan. The exclusion criteria were follow-up period of < 1 month and insufficient data on stent type or cancer characteristics. We used Mann–Whitney’s U test for quantitative data and Fisher’s exact test for categorical data. Multivariate analysis was performed using a logistic regression model. 107 stents were placed. Low radial-force stents (L group) were used in 51 procedures and high radial-force stents (H group) in 56 procedures. SAEs developed after nine procedures, the median interval from stent placement being 6 days (range, 1–141 days). SAEs occurred more frequently in the H (14%: 8/56) than in the L group (2%: 1/51) (P = 0.03). In patients who had undergone prior radiotherapy, SAEs were more frequent in the H (36%: 4/11) than in the L group (0%: 0/13) (P = 0.03). Re-obstruction and migration occurred after 16 and three procedures, respectively; these rates did not differ significantly between groups (P = 0.59, P = 1, respectively). Low radial-force stents may reduce the risk of SAEs after esophageal stenting.