Hany Fahmy, MD, FRCSI, FACS, Ahmed Elsayed, Ahmed Dwid. Royal Commission Medical Center
Endoscopic biliary stenting is a well-established and minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of biliary tract obstruction. Several complications of stent placement have been described. Stent migration is a late complication which usually passes spontaneously. Rarely, it may lead to perforation or penetration with consequent serious complications. After reviewing the literature concerning strange presentations of migrating biliary stent, very few case reports described anterior abdominal wall abscess as a presentation of migrating biliary stent. This case report and review literature describes strange presentations of migrating biliary stent and presents the unusual anterior abdominal wall abscess due to the migration of a biliary stent with successful percutaneous extraction.
Report concludes the importance of high index of suspicion and close surveillance after biliary stent placement to reduce the chance of serious events. Also, management option of a migrated biliary stent should depend on the patients’ clinical condition and stent location.
The objective in presenting this case and reviewing the literature is to highlight bowel penetration and anterior abdominal wall abscess as a rarely seen complication of biliary stent migration which was successfully treated by percutaneous retrieval.
Key words: Biliary stent, stent migration, abdominal wall abscess