Abstract
Chronic pancreatitis is a progressive and irreversible inflammatory disease, and pain is the symptom that most often requires treatment. It may be related to increased pressure within the ductal system and/or parenchyma secondary to outflow obstruction of the main pancreatic duct. Fuji et al. reported the efficacy of endoscopic pancreatic stenting to widen the stricture less invasively by placing a pancreatic stent in the main pancreatic duct. In patients with ductal strictures persisting after 12 months of single pancreatic stenting, endoscopic placement of multiple pancreatic stents can be recommended as an available treatment option. Finally, endoscopic pancreatic stenting has been approved for medical health insurance coverage in 2012. Recently, EUS-guided pancreatic duct drainage has been described as a technique in cases in which ERCP was unsuccessful and cases with stenotic pancreatodigestive anastomosis. Using a self-expandable, fully covered metallic stent is a new therapeutic method for treating severe refractory main pancreatic duct stricture.
