EUS-Guided Gallbladder Drainage Using an Improved Self-Expandable Covered Metal Stent with Anti-Stent Migration...

Recently, lumen-apposing metal stents (LAMS) have been developed as novel devices for not only endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided pancreatic fluid drainage but also for EUS-guided gallbladder drainage (GBD). Although LAMS might be clinically impactful, these stents have not yet become available as EUS-GBD stents in all countries, including Japan. Instead, improved metal stents (NEO stents) have become available. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of EUS-GBD using the improved metal stent with an anti-stent migration system for acute cholecystitis (AC).

The gallbladder was punctured using a 19-G needle, and a 0.025-inch guidewire was inserted into the gallbladder. After fistula dilation, stent deployment was performed from the gallbladder to the duodenum. Finally, a plastic 7-Fr pigtail stent was placed to prevent stent migration.

EUS-GBD using NEO stents with the anti-stent migration system was attempted in 12 consecutive patients with AC as a complication of other conditions. EUS-GBD was successfully performed in all patients without any adverse events, and clinical success was achieved in all patients. Median procedure time was 19.0 min (range, 19-24 min). In 4 patients, stent removal was successfully performed after 3 months. Stent migration during follow-up (median, 189 days) was not seen in any of the patients.

Although this study has several limitations such as small number of patients and short follow-up period, the results show that NEO stents might be suitable as EUS-GBD stents in selected patients. Our results should be validated by a larger prospective, randomized study.