Fractured esophageal self-expandable metallic stent in a patient with advanced lung cancer: a case report and review of the literature

Self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS) are the currently recommended treatment modality for palliation of dysphagia resulting from unresectable malignant esophageal obstruction. The most common post-SEMS-placement complications are migration, perforation, bleeding, and tumor ingrowth or overgrowth. We report herein a patient with advanced lung cancer invading the esophagus with the very rare late complication of spontaneous stent fracture 8 months after esophageal SEMS placement, together with a comprehensive review of the related literature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the spontaneous fracture of an esophageal SEMS inserted for the palliative treatment of malignant esophageal obstruction due to extrinsic invasion by lung cancer.