Self-Expanding Metallic Stents for the Management of Emergency Malignant Large Bowel Obstruction: a Systematic Review.

Objectives: This paper evaluates the safety and effectiveness of self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) for the management of emergency malignant colorectal obstruction in patients otherwise requiring multi-stage surgery. No systematic review has been conducted comparing SEMS to only multi-stage surgery.

Methods: Bibliographic databases, including Cochrane, PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL, were searched in September 2011 and repeated in November 2013.