[Palliative treatment of cancer of the esophagus using an endoluminal prosthesis]

Between 1973 and 1984, 27 patients with a cancer of the esophagus or the cardia and suffering dysphagia underwent palliation with an endoluminal prosthesis. Intubation under esophagoscopy or through a gastrotomy, or both, allowed the placement of 23 Celestin tubes and 4 Mousseau-Barbin prostheses. The early postoperative death rate was 11%. The overall morbidity was 37%. It included such complications as tube displacement (18.5% of patients), tracheal compression by the tube (7.4%), obstruction of the prosthesis (11%), esophageal fistula (7.4%), aspiration (7.4%) and wound infection (7.4%). The ability to swallow was acceptable in 24 patients.