• Khayal Abdulmalik Alkhayal, Sulaiman Abdullah Alshammari, Ahmed Mohammed Al-Mazrou, Majid Abdulrahman Almadi, Omar Abdullah Al-Obeed, Ahmad Mohammed Zubaidi, Thamer Abdullah Bin Traiki, and Noura Sufyan Alhassan.
• From the Department of Surgery/General Surgery, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2020 Sep 1; 40 (5): 403-407.

BackgroundSelf-expanding metal stents (SEMS) are used as a bridge to surgery for colon cancer patients as an alternative to emergency surgery. Currently, there is a paucity of literature from Saudi Arabia on the preoperative usage of SEMS.ObjectiveDetermine whether SEMS are associated with a higher rate of complications.DesignRetrospective cohort study SETTINGS: Tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia.Patients And MethodsIn patients diagnosed with obstructing colon cancer, up-front surgical resection was compared with insertion of SEMS followed by surgical resection between the years 2009 and 2013.Main Outcome MeasuresRate of stent-related short-term complications. Secondary endpoint, postoperative complications.Sample Size65.ResultsTwenty-four (36.9%) patients underwent SEMS placement; 41 (63.1%) underwent primary surgery. The median (interquartile range) hospital stay was significantly higher among the SEMS group (13 [8.5] days versus 7 [3] days in the primary surgery group, P<.001). Five patients (20.8%) in the SEMS group developed complications: 2 (8.3%) perforations, 2 (8.3%) obstructions, and 1 (4.2%) stent migrations.ConclusionSEMS is associated with longer hospital stays and short-term serious complications. Further research should be conducted, preferably with a larger sample size.LimitationsRetrospective design, small sample size.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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