Palliative endoscopic treatment of malignant esophageal stenosis using a Häring prosthesis

The aim of this work was to analyze the outcome of 78 cases of esophageal cancer for which the endoscopic placement of a Häring prosthesis was chosen as a palliative method of treatment. The average length of hospitalization was 10 days and the average survival time was 90.8 days. The postinsertion mortality rate was 6% and there were 44 complications. The best indications are carcinoma of the lower two thirds of the esophagus, neoplastic mediastinitis and esophageal fistulae.