Aged ; Alloys* ; Bile Ducts* ; Cholestasis/etiology ; Cholestasis/therapy ; Equipment Failure ; Humans ; Male ; Palliative Care ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/complications ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/therapy ; Stents*
Abstract
One of the major disadvantages of nitinol endocoil stents is said to be incomplete deployment leading to twisting and stent dysfunction. We report a patient with irresectable pancreatic head cancer where severe twisting of the nitinol stent occurred which resolved on the day after stent insertion; the stent took its normal shape ten days later, whereafter the patient lived without stent-related problems for one year until his death. This shows that prospective management rather than immediate stent extraction may be warranted in such cases of stent dysfunction.