[Dysphagia] Oesophageal stents - II

[Paula.Leslie at newcastle.ac.uk (Paula leslie)]

Hello All

I have just received a call from a retired "digestive tract" surgeon who came 
across my posting out there on the web from a year or so ago.  I never got a 
response to this so I thought it might be quite rare.  Anyway I wanted to 
share his thoughts with you in case anyone else is interested.

He said that not much work has been done in this area but that he thought some 
studies had been done in Japan and maybe the UK.  This type of stent is often 
used in the terminal/late stages of disease eg cancer when the patient is very 
ill.  Patients are often cared for at home/under the care of a general 
practitioner and they die of disease factors - not the stent - sometimes quite 
soon afterwards.  No one ever investigates the stent and more patients than we 
realise might have fistulae but because of other factors, the possible link 
between stent and bronchial aspiration is not made.  Whether or not it is 
important (eg chest infections presumed to be a part of the general disease) 
is another issue.  Our case was rare in that it sounded like a younger, fitter 
person had such a stent.

So.  Just wanted to share that with anyone that might be interested.  A 
potential study perhaps.....?

Paula


Subject: [Dysphagia] Oesophageal Stents 
From: Paula.Leslie at newcastle.ac.uk (Paula Leslie) 
Date: Thu Dec 18 07:55:28 2003

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Hello All

Just wondering how many people on this list serve come across oesophageal 
stents that have punctured through into the trachea/bronchs etc....?

Any particular patient groups?  And how often?

I've seen a couple recently.  Patient referred in for VFSS ?aspiration etc and 
oropharyngeal is fine.  But a good rady/SLT checks further and hey, what do 
you know, BaSO4 pulsing into the lungs!

Just wondering...

Paula

Paula Leslie
Degree Programme Director
Surgical and Reproductive Sciences
Faculty of Medical Sciences
University of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 4HH
UK
+44 (0) 191 222 6279(T)/8988(F)
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sars/postgrad/MSc.htm