Trimming of a migrated metal stent for malignant colonic stricture using argon plasma coagulation

We report the first case of trimming of a migrated metal colonic stent for stent induced severe anorectal pain. We present a case of a 54-year-old female with history of metastatic colorectal carcinoma who had stent placement secondary to obstruction. Subsequent distal migration of the stent caused ulcerations into the rectal mucosa and excruciating anorectal pain. We used argon plasma coagulation (APC) to successfully trim the exposed distal portion of the metal stent and rat tooth forceps to retrieve the stent fragments. The use of APC for trimming metallic stents is an effective procedure that can be used to trim migrated rectal stents that result in significant rectal pain. To date, few studies have been published that use APC to trim metallic stents placed in the gastrointestinal tract. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the only known case in which the indication for stent trimming was severe stent induced rectal pain. The procedure resulted in complete relief of patient symptoms. Therefore, APC is a safe and effective way to trim colo-rectal stents to definitively relieve the symptom of stent induced rectal pain in patients who have experienced distal stent migration and mucosal ulceration.