Esophageal stent migration leads to intestinal obstruction

Background: Self-expanding metallic stents are the devices of choice in the treatment of malign or benign strictures of esophagus. Stent migration is a well-known complication of this procedure. Aims: We report a case of intestinal obstruction caused by esophageal stent migration, in which surgical intervention was used. Methods: A 65-year-old woman, who had a medical history of gastric cancer operation and esophageal stent application admitted to our emergeny department with a 48-hour history of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. An emergeny laparotomy was performed and the migrated stent leading to intestinal obstruction was removed. Results: The patient recovered without incident and was discharged on postoperative day 3. Conclusion: This case illustrates that esophageal stent migration has to be considered as a potential life-threatening complication.