Biodegradable stent placement in the esophagus

Biodegradable stents overcome some of the problems encountered with self-expanding metal stents. They main advantage over self-expanding metal stents is that endoscopic removal is not needed. Single biodegradable stents are often only temporarily effective in patients with a refractory benign esophageal stricture, as in the majority dysphagia recurs. If this occurs, sequential biodegradable stent placement may be an effective alternative to avoid the burden of serial dilations. In the future, it can be expected that (covered) biodegradable stents will be available to treat benign esophageal perforations/leaks, but also that they will be used for treating malignant indications combined with other (palliative) modalities, such as bridge to surgery or to maintain luminal patency during neoadjuvant chemoradiation.