Colonic Stent Placement in Malignant Bowel Obstruction

Abstract: Colon Cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the United States. Bowel obstruction is a potential complication of advanced colon cancer. Surgical treatment options include temporary colostomy and later colon resection if the is resectable or permanent colostomy if the cancer is unresectable. Alternatively, colonic stent placement could avoid temporary or permanent colostomy irrespective of the resectability. Colonic stenting can serve as a bridge therapy to surgery while the patient is being medically optimized, or as palliative care in cases of unresectable or metastatic cancer1. In patients as a bridge to surgery it is associated with less morbidity and mortality2. In this article, we report a case of a 59-year-old male with metastatic colon cancer complicated by large bowel obstruction, who underwent colonic stent placement with complete relief of bowel obstruction and avoided colostomy.