Fully covered self‐expandable metallic stents versus plastic stents for preoperative biliary drainage in patients with pancreatic head cancer and the risk factors for post‐endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis

Objectives Optimal stents for preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) for patients with possible resectable pancreatic cancer remain controversial, and risk factors for post‐endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP), followed by PBD, are unknown. In this study, the efficacy and safety of fully covered self‐expandable metallic stents (FCSEMSs) and plastic stents (PSs) were compared, and the risk factors for PEP, followed by PBD, were investigated for patients with pancreatic cancer. Methods Consecutive patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent PBD between April 2005 and March 2022 were included. We retrospectively evaluated recurrent biliary obstruction, adverse events (AEs), and postoperative complications for FCSEMS and PS groups and investigated the risk factors for PEP. Results A total of 105 patients were included. There were 20 patients in the FCSEMS group and 85 patients in the PS group. For the FCSEMS group, the rate of recurrent biliary obstruction (0% vs. 25%, p = 0.03) was significantly lower. There was no difference in AE between the two groups. No significant differences were observed in the overall postoperative complications, but the volume of intraoperative bleeding was larger for the PS group than it was for the FCSEMS group (p < 0.001). From multivariate analysis, being female and lack of main pancreatic duct dilation were independent risk factors for pancreatitis (odds ratio, 5.68; p = 0.028; odds ratio, 4.91; p = 0.048). Conclusions FCSEMSs are thought to be preferable to PSs for PBD due to their longer time to recurrent biliary obstruction. Being female and the lack of main pancreatic duct dilation were risk factors for PEP.