Patient tolerance of cervical esophageal metallic stents.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate that proximal esophageal stenoses and tracheoesophageal fistulas can be adequately palliated with use of metallic stents without significant foreign-body sensation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between June 1994 and March 1999, 22 patients with lesions within 3 cm of the cricopharyngeus were treated by placement of metallic stents. The series was reviewed retrospectively. Twenty patients had surgically unresectable malignant lesions, two patients had benign disease. Ten patients had associated tracheoesophageal fistulas. In all, the upper limit of the stent was between C5 vertebral body inferior endplate and the T2 vertebral body superior endplate. The case-notes were reviewed until patient death (range, 6-198 days), or to date in the two surviving patients with benign disease.
RESULTS: Immediate technical success was 93% (27 of 29). Dysphagia scores improved from a median of 3 to 2 after stent placement. Eighteen of 22 (82%) patients reported no foreign-body sensation. There have been no cases of proximal migration, periprocedural perforation, or deaths. The two patients with benign disease experienced significant complications.
CONCLUSION: Lesions in proximity to the cricopharyngeus can be successfully palliated without significant foreign-body sensation in the majority of patients with use of metallic stents. The authors urge caution in placing stents in patients with benign disease.