The Role of Stent in Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal cancer has become very common now all over the world and the very common symptom is called as dysphagia or hard to swallow food. The patients feel as if the food got stuck inside the esophagus and find it hard to swallow food and pass it through the esophagus into the stomach.

Stents in esophageal cancer are used as a bridge to overcome the obstruction and to reestablish the luminal patency in patients. Patients when selecting stents should consider that they can have complications around them including ingrowth, migration and overgrowth. But stent manufacturers have been thriving hard to overcome these complications and are constantly in the process of creating new methods for reducing or eliminating these complications.

Initially, the stents used in esophageal cancer were made out of ivory (decalcified) and then were replaced using plastic stents. Even now plastic stents are being used widely due to their cost effectiveness. But other than the plastic stents, self expanding metal stents are largely accepted by all now. Studies have revealed the fact that both the metal and plastic stents could be effective with lesser complications related to stents. Coated stents are also becoming very common in patients with esophageal cancer as they are capable of preventing the ingrowth of tumor.

Without stents the patients might need to face unpleasant and very quick death due to aspiration of saliva of the patients and from complete dysphagia as they might not eat anything leading to poor life quality. This becomes worse in patients who cannot undergo any kind of treatments for esophageal cancer. Stents have been very reliable in alleviating dyphagia and in a very secure manner.

Both doctors and patients feel that distressing the patients using time consuming and painful procedures, repetitive treatment sessions or prolonged hospitalization are undesireable. Patients with less life expectancy can find great relief with the placement of stents as it is not only cost effective way but also a safer method when it comes to managing dysphagia in esophageal obstruction. Studies have revealed the fact that nearly ninety percent of esophageal cancer patients returned to their normal eating habits after the placement of stents.

Patients who have esophageal cancer and who are in the inoperable condition can get some relief from dysphagia or difficulty to swallow food with the help of SEMS or self expanding metallic stents. Mostly it is done using fluoroscopic guidance but a novel approach is also adopted for placing these stents without the need to go for fluoroscopy. The approach is called as direct vision approach. This particular technique was found to have less complication rates when compared to the fluoroscopic method as this was considerd to be efficacious and safe offering better palliation in the patients suffering from esophageal cancer.

Natural Remedies:

There are certain natural remedies that offer a promising cure for esophageal cancer. Along with the natural remedies and a well-researched different diet pattern, a few simple adjustments to your lifestyle can make a huge difference to your efforts for prolonging the life for several years. You can increase your chances of surviving esophagus cancer now by trying these proven natural remedies discussed here