Case Report
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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2014; 20(10): 2715-2720
Published online Mar 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i10.2715
Esophageal stent fracture: Case report and review of the literature
Harshit S Khara, David L Diehl, Seth A Gross
Harshit S Khara, David L Diehl, Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA 17822, United States
Seth A Gross, Division of Gastroenterology, NYU School of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10028, United States
Author contributions: Khara HS, Diehl DL and Gross SA all contributed equally to this work; Khara HS and Gross SA were involved in the clinical management of the case, while all three authors were equally involved in the preparation of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Harshit S Khara, MD, Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Geisinger Medical Center, 100 N. Academy Ave, 21-11, Danville, PA 17822, United States. harshitkhara@hotmail.com
Telephone: +1-570-2716856 Fax: +1-570-2716852
Received: August 26, 2013
Revised: September 13, 2013
Accepted: September 29, 2013
Published online: March 14, 2014
Core Tip

Core tip: Esophageal self expanding metal stents are widely used for the treatment of a variety of benign and malignant esophageal conditions. A rare and infrequently reported complication of this procedure is stent fracture and subsequent migration of the broken pieces. There have only been a handful of case reports describing this problem. We report a case of spontaneous fracture of a nitinol esophageal self expanding metal stent, the first reported case from the United States, and review the available literature on this unusual occurrence.