A novel lumen-apposing metal stent for endoscopic drainage of symptomatic pancreatic fluid collections: a retrospective study

Previous studies showed that lumen-apposing metal stent (LAMS) provides a feasible route to perform direct endoscopic necrosectomy. However, the high risk of bleeding and migration induced by the placement of LAMS attracted attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a novel LAMS. In this retrospective study, we enrolled patients with symptomatic pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs) to perform EUS–guided drainage with a LAMS in our hospital. Evaluation variables included technical success rate, clinical success rate, and adverse events. Thirty-two patients with a mean age of 41.38 ± 10.72 years (53.1% males) were included in our study, and the mean size of PFC was 10.06 ± 3.03 cm. Technical success rate and clinical success rate reached 96.9% and 93.8%, respectively. Stent migration occurred in 1 patient (3.1%), and no stent-induced bleeding occurred. The outcomes of using LAMS in 10 patients with pancreatic pseudocyst and 22 patients with walled-off necrosis were comparable. Compared with pancreatic pseudocyst, walled-off necrosis needed more direct endoscopic necrosectomy times to achieve resolution (P = 0.024). Our study showed that the novel LAMS is effective and safe for endoscopic drainage of PFCs with a relatively low rate of adverse events. Further large-scale multicenter studies are needed to confirm the present findings.