Salvage therapy of bleeding esophageal tumor by fully covered self-expandable metallic stent: A case report

The role of self-expandable metallic stents is gradually evolving for a diverse group of benign and malignant gastrointestinal tract problems, with luminal obstruction being by far the most common. Although its role in refractory variceal bleeding is well established, it has rarely been tried for tumor-related bleeding, with only a few case reports in this regard. We share our experience of successfully controlling esophageal tumor-related bleeding with the use of a fully covered self-expandable metallic stent. A 58-year-old woman with irresectable distal esophageal cancer, presented with hematemesis. Esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy revealed an obstructing esophageal tumor with diffuse oozing of blood. This was unamenable to local injection of adrenaline and hemospray; therefore, a temporary self-expandable metallic stent was parked to create a tamponade effect. This successfully stopped bleeding and the patient remained asymptomatic till discharge. However, she was lost to follow-up, and therefore, the stent was removed after a period of 5 months instead of 2 weeks.