Benign biliary obstruction: Is treatment with the wallstent advisable

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the self-expanding Wallstent in the treatment of benign biliary strictures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with benign biliary strictures were included in this retrospective study. Seven patients had chronic pancreatitis, two had fibrous papillary stenosis, one had primary sclerosing cholangitis, and 10 had postsurgical strictures, including four who had a stenosed bilidigestive anastomosis. Primary and secondary patency of the stents and clinical outcome after stent insertion were evaluated. RESULTS: Stent placement was successful in all patients. At the end of the observation period, which lasted 3-78 months (mean, 31.2 months +/- 4.5 [standard error]), 10 patients were alive. Median primary patency was 32 months +/- 8.7. In 10 patients, patency was preserved during the observation period (two with secondary patency). Six patients had a good clinical result. Among the other four patients, one had recurrent cholangitis, one had a biliary abscess, and two had stent revisions. In the other patients, stents became occluded after 3-55 months. The reason for stent occlusion was a stone in one patient; in the others, the causes were not proved. CONCLUSION: Results of stent placement for treatment of benign biliary strictures are not encouraging. However, the patient population is too limited to allow final conclusions.