PATIENTS AND METHODS: Medical records for patients who underwent palliative enteral stenting during the past 9 years were retrospectively reviewed, and the patients' clinical outcome was compared with that in patients who underwent open surgical
gastrojejunostomy during the same period. Patients who underwent prophylactic
gastrojejunostomy were excluded from the study.
RESULTS: Twenty patients (11 men, nine women; mean age 71.8 years) with pancreaticobiliary
malignancy underwent palliative enteral stenting (
stent group). Nineteen patients (12 men, seven women; mean age 68.7 years) with pancreaticobiliary
malignancies underwent surgical
gastrojejunostomy (bypass group). In the
stent group, the diagnoses were 12
pancreatic cancers, six
gallbladder cancers, one
bile duct cancer, and one ampullary
cancer. In the bypass group, the diagnoses were 14
pancreatic cancers and five
gallbladder cancers. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to clinical background. Both procedures were successful. There were no differences between the two groups with regard to the technical or clinical success rates, patient survival, possibility of discharge, need for
parenteral nutrition, or incidence of complications. However, the time from the procedure to resumption of food intake was shorter in the
stent group than in the bypass group (1 day vs. 9 days; P < 0.0001). Improvement in the performance score after the procedure was observed more frequently in the
stent group (65 % vs. 26.3 %; P < 0.05). In terms of the median
hospital stay from the time of the procedure to the time of initial discharge home (12 patients vs. nine patients), there was no statistical difference (15 days vs. 30 days) due to the small size of the sample. There was no procedure-related mortality in either group.
CONCLUSIONS: