Original Article
Preoperative colonoscopy after self-expandable metallic stent placement in patients with acute neoplastic colon obstruction

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gie.2005.12.032Get rights and content

Background

In patients with colorectal cancer, a preoperative colonoscopy is recommended to exclude synchronous lesions. Unfortunately, between 7% and 29% of patients with colorectal cancer present with acute colonic obstruction, making complete colonoscopy impossible.

Objective

The aim of our study was to evaluate the feasibility of a preoperative colonoscopy after effective stent placement in patients with acute neoplastic obstruction.

Design

Single-center prospective study.

Setting

All examinations were carried out at a tertiary referral center with 24-hour emergency endoscopy service.

Patients

Fifty-seven patients with acute neoplastic colon obstruction.

Interventions

Patients who recovered from an acute colon obstruction by an effective stent placement and who had a resectable cancer underwent a preoperative colonoscopy.

Main Outcome Measurements

Patients with a resectable cancer, complete preoperative colonoscopies, and synchronous lesions rates.

Results

Self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS) were placed in 50 of 57 patients (87.8%). Thirty-one of 50 patients had a resectable cancer (62%), and a complete preoperative colonoscopy was possible in 29 of 31 patients (93.4%). A synchronous cancer was detected in 3 patients (9.6%), changing the surgical plan.

Limitations

Seven patients in whom the SEMS placement (12.2%) was unsuccessful underwent an urgent surgical intervention. Nineteen of 50 patients who had stent placement were not eligible for our study because of unresectable cancer.

Conclusions

Our study indicates that it is feasible in a majority of patients to perform full preoperative colonoscopy after relief of acute colonic obstruction with SEMS before surgical resection.

Section snippets

Patients and methods

From January 2002 to September 2004, 57 consecutive patients (33 men, 24 women; mean age, 69 ± 18 years) with acute neoplastic colon obstruction who were undergoing SEMS placement were prospectively included in the study. Patients were eligible for the study if they presented with clinical signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction. Suspicion of perforation was an exclusion criterion. SEMS placement was performed under endoscopic and fluoroscopic control within 12 hours of the diagnosis. Full

Results

In 57 consecutive patients with acute neoplastic colon obstruction, the site of obstruction was the rectosigmoid junction (n = 26), sigmoid colon (n = 11), sigmoid-descending colon junction (n = 5), descending colon (n = 5), splenic flexure (n = 4), transverse colon (n = 5), and hepatic flexure (n = 1) (Table 1). The length of the obstructions ranged from 2.0 to 8.5 cm (mean, 4.0 cm). We placed 56 SEMS (Enteral Wallstent [23], Ultraflex Precision [33]), and insertion was technically successful

Discussion

In patients with colon cancer, it is recommended that a preoperative colonoscopy be performed because a synchronous cancer could change the surgical plan; in fact, in the literature, the reported rate of synchronous colon-cancer lesions ranges from 2% to 12% of patients.9, 10, 11, 12 Unfortunately, between 7% and 29% of patients with colorectal cancer present with an acute colon obstruction, making the execution of a colonoscopy impossible; in this case, the standard treatment is emergency

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