Three Cases of Decompression Failure in Colon Stent Placement for Obstructive Colorectal Cancer

: Forty-four patients underwent decompression using a self-expandable metallic stent for obstructive colorectal cancer as a bridge to surgery in our department. Three failure cases were examined. Case 1: A Rs, Ra type 2 cancer was treated with WallflexTM 60 mm. Enough decompression could not be obtained, and an additional stent was placed. Consequently, the patient underwent a transverse colostomy. Case 2: A Ra type 2 cancer was treated with Niti-S 60 mm. The patient's chief complaint was not improved due to the tumor ingrowth. Consequently, he underwent a transverse colostomy. Case 3: A sigmoid type 2 cancer was treated with Niti-S 80 mm. Decompression was successful. However, CT scan revealed another tumor in the descending colon. He underwent a transverse colostomy for further examination. The causes of the failure differed in each case. We gained many learning points from these cases that are useful for future treatment.