Oesophageal stenting: where have we come from and where are we going?

Abstract

Over the past 130 years, stenting the oesophagus has evolved from desperate innovations involving the blind passage of stents into or through an undiagnosed obstructing lesion, to the safe passage of modern self-expanding metal stents (SEMS), which have evolved over the last three decades. During this latter period, better understanding of the pathologies affecting the oesophagus and improved treatment modalities have led to a paradigm shift in stenting. The innovation of SEMS has expanded the role of stenting from purely alleviating dysphagia as a palliative intervention for oesophageal carcinoma, to an array of other uses. Stents are now utilized not only in malignant disease, but for the complications of its treatment, as well as in a variety of benign diseases. This review outlines these temporal changes and the advances that have been made, including their current application in clinical settings.