Stents

[Guest guest]

Sometimes Stents do work. They worked for me. I had to have about

six of them placed and then removed, but it eventually did the

trick. It's not an automatic quick fix, as the way I see it, the

duct has been narrowed or closed for so long, it is going to take

multiple stenting to keep it stretched open and in place.

It doesn't work for some people, which is true, but it can and does

for others. I used to have attacks when I'd have the stent put in

and sometimes when it had already been in place, but I took that as

par for the course of my treatment to getting well again. It is also

highly possible for the stent to block, as the pancreas will produce

sludge which gets thick and builds up in the stent. This will

require an ERCP to remove the sludge, but it never game me a

pancreatitis attack just for the removal of the sludge.

At the same point, there is a risk of scarring from the stent, but

that can be removed during the ERCP. It happened to me also. I don't

know if it is a high percentage of that happening, but with some

things I've had happen with me because of illnesses percentages were

extremely rare to have it happen, but it did and I don't look at

percentages anymore.