Predictors of outcomes in patients undergoing covered and uncovered self-expandable metal stent placement for malignant gastric outlet obstruction: a multicenter study

Background and Aims Uncovered self-expandable metal stents (U-SEMSs) and covered self-expandable metal stents (C-SEMSs) are available for palliative therapy for malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO). However, clinical differences and indications between the 2 types of SEMSs have not been elucidated. Methods We retrospectively compared 126 patients with U-SEMS and 126 patients with C-SEMSs with regard to clinical outcome and factors predictive of clinical improvement after SEMSs placement. Results No significant difference was observed between the U-SEMS and C-SEMS groups with respect to technical success, clinical success, GOO score, or time to stent dysfunction. Stent migration was significantly more frequent in patients with C-SEMSs (U-SEMSs, .79%; C-SEMSs, 8.73%; P  = .005). Karnofsky performance status, chemotherapy, peritoneal dissemination, and stent expansion ≤ 30% were associated significantly with poor GOO score improvement in multivariable analyses, but stent type was not ( P  = .213). In subgroup analyses, insufficient (≤30%) stent expansion was an independent factor in patients with U-SEMSs ( P  = .041) but not C-SEMSs. In the insufficient stent expansion subgroup, C-SEMSs was associated significantly with superior clinical improvement compared with U-SEMSs ( P  = .01). Insufficient stent expansion was observed more frequently in patients with GI obstruction because of anastomotic sites or metastatic cancer (44.8% [13/29], P  = .001). Conclusions No clinical difference, apart from stent migration, was observed between patients with U-SEMSs and C-SEMSs. GI obstruction because of an anastomotic site or metastatic cancer may be an indication for C-SEMS use to improve oral intake after SEMSs placement.