Self-expandable metal stents for achalasia: Thinking out of the box!

Table 1 Published series using self-expandable metallic stents for achalasia treatment

Ref.	Coppola et al[43](2014)	Zeng et al[42](2014)	Cheng et al[41](2010)	Zhao et al[40](2009)	De Palma et al[36](2001)	Mukherjee et al[37](2000)	De Palma et al[35](1998)
Baseline characteristics and effectiveness
Patients, n	7	59	90	75	8	4	4
SEMS diameter, mm	30	20/25	20/25/30	30	18	18/20	18
Time to removal, d	6	30	4-5	3-7	?	?	?
Technical success, %	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Initial remission, %	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Major complications
Stent migration, n	0	4	14	4	4	1	0
Perforation, n	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Bleeding, n	0	0	14	9	0	1	0
30-d mortality, n	0	0	0	0	0	1	0