Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32624652›Full record

ReviewAnnals of gastroenterology

Biodegradable esophageal stents for the treatment of refractory benign esophageal strictures.

Paraskevas Gkolfakis, Peter D Siersema, Georgios Tziatzios, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Ioannis S Papanikolaou

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Annals of gastroenterology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Stricturing Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract-Current Clinical Practice.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2026
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. CIRSE Standards of Practice on Oesophageal and Gastroduodenal Stenting.Cardiovascular and interventional radiology · 2023
    Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Paraskevas GkolfakisDepartment of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology and Digestive Oncology, Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium (Paraskevas Gkolfakis).
Peter D SiersemaDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (Peter Siersema).
Georgios TziatziosHepatogastroenterology Unit, 2 Department of Internal Medicine, "Attikon" University General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (Georgios Tziatzios, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Ioannis S. Papanikolaou).
Konstantinos TriantafyllouHepatogastroenterology Unit, 2 Department of Internal Medicine, "Attikon" University General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (Georgios Tziatzios, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Ioannis S. Papanikolaou).
Ioannis S PapanikolaouHepatogastroenterology Unit, 2 Department of Internal Medicine, "Attikon" University General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (Georgios Tziatzios, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Ioannis S. Papanikolaou).
Université Libre de Bruxelles · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This review attempts to present the available evidence regarding the use of biodegradable stents in refractory benign esophageal strictures, especially highlighting their impact on clinical success and complications. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, using the terms "biodegradable" and "benign"; evidence from cohort and comparative studies, as well as data from one pooled analysis and one meta-analysis are presented. In summary, the results from these studies indicate that the effectiveness of biodegradable stents ranges from more than one third to a quarter of cases, fairly similar to other types of stents used for the same indication. However, their implementation may reduce the need for re-intervention during follow up. Biodegradable stents also seem to reduce the need for additional types of endoscopic therapeutic modalities, mostly balloon or bougie dilations. Results from pooled data are consistent, showing moderate efficacy along with a higher complication rate. Nonetheless, the validity of these results is questionable, given the heterogeneity of the studies included. Finally, adverse events may occur at a higher rate but are most often minor. The lack of high-quality studies with sufficient patient numbers mandates further studies, preferably randomized, to elucidate the exact role of biodegradable stents in the treatment of refractory benign esophageal strictures.

Indexed as

benign esophageal stenosisBiodegradable stent

Identifiers

PMID32624652
PMCPMC7315705
OpenAlexW3016667862

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.