[Intraesophageal stent in the prevention of stenosis caused by caustic ingestion]

Esophageal stenosis is a frequent consequence of lye ingestion, and their treatment is of longstanding and complex matter. The search of new solutions for this problem is challenging and always attractive if its associated with less aggressiveness to the patient. The use of intraesophageal stents is not new in the treatment of stenosis, but it was anecdotal, until histocompatible material came out in the market. The stent is designed in the OR, having the same length as the stenosis, previously observed by endoscopy, its made out of a silicone tube 30 or 36 French, mounted over an ng tube 16, all this is fixed in the ends of the silicone tube, that way won't slip over the ng tube. It is placed with a laryngoscope assistant, the proximal end of the ng tube comes out the nasal nares. Once the location of the tube is checked, the stent is left in place for six weeks. Our experience, with seven patients, has shown excellent tolerance to the stent; at the third post procedure day the patients were eating soft diet by mouth, we believe that the esophageal spasm had resolved by this day. Once the stent was withdraw, five cases were free of esophageal lesions, in the other two small areas of bleeding were visualized. In the follow-up the five cases that were free of lesions, had a normal esophageal diameter, in the other two, one had a moderate restenosis and the other case was severe.