Five cases of acute large-bowel obstruction due to colon cancer treated with endoscopic stent placement as a bridge to surgery

Abstract

Endoscopic stent placement in acute large-bowel obstruction has been established as a therapeutic option to convert emergent surgery to an elective one. This strategy is expected to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with emergent surgery, and to decrease the need for stoma creation and multi-staged operations. We report five cases of acute large-bowel obstruction due to left-sided colon cancer treated with endoscopic stent placement as a bridge to surgery. All patients received elective laparoscope-assisted surgery on average 9.2 days after placement of self-expandable metallic stent without procedural complications.