Use of colorectal
stents has increased dramatically over the last decades. Colorectal
stents offer an alternative way to relieve fatal
intestinal obstruction and can take place of emergency surgery, which associated with significant morbidity and mortality and a high incidence of stoma creation, to elective resection. Although there remain a few concerns regarding the use of
stents as a bridge to surgical resection, use of
self-expandable metallic stents for palliation in patients with unresectable disease has come to be generally accepted. Advantages of colorectal
stents include acute restoration of
luminal patency and allowance of time for proper staging and surgical optimization, and the well-known disadvantages are procedure-related complications including perforation, migration, and
stent failure. General indications, procedures, and clinical outcomes as well as recent evidences regarding the use of colorectal
stents will be discussed in this review.