Trimming a metallic biliary stent using an argon plasma coagulator
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026
Assessment of Plasma Coagulation on Liver Tissue in a Large Animal Model In Vivo
Published on: August 4, 2018
Rungsun Rerknimitr1, Pisit Naprasert, Pradermchai Kongkam
1Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10310, Thailand. Rungsun@pol.net
Background:
Distal migration is one of the common complications after insertion of a covered metallic stent. Stent repositioning or removal is not always possible in every patient. Therefore, trimming using an argon plasma coagulator (APC) may be a good alternative method to solve this problem.
Methods:
Metallic stent trimming by APC was performed in 2 patients with biliary Wallstent migration and in another patient with esophageal Ultraflex stent migration. The power setting was 60-100 watts with an argon flow of 0.8 l/min.
Observations:
The procedure was successfully performed and all distal parts of the stents were removed. No significant collateral damage to the nearby mucosa was observed.
Conclusions:
In a patient with a distally migrated metallic stent, trimming of the stent is possible by means of an APC. This new method may be applicable to other sites of metallic stent migration.