Stent-induced symptomatic pancreatic duct stricture after endoscopic prophylactic pancreatic duct stent placement for the normal pancreas

Stent-induced pancreatic duct stricture (SI-PDS) is a complication associated with pancreatic stent placement. However, symptomatic SI-PDS associated with prophylactic pancreatic duct stents has not been sufficiently investigated. We examined the incidence and characteristics of symptomatic SI-PDS in patients who underwent pancreatic duct stent placement to prevent post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP) between April 2007 and March 2017. We examined 124 patients with normal pancreases consisting of 75 men and 49 women with a median age of 67.5 years [interquartile range (IQR): 61–74 years]. The median main pancreatic duct (MPD) diameter was 3.3 mm (IQR: 2.6–4.1 mm). The median duration of stent placement was 7 days (IQR: 3–14 days). Spontaneous dislodgment stents were placed in 43.5% of cases (54/124). The diameter of the stent was 5 Fr in 93.5% of cases (116/124) and 7 Fr in 6.5% of cases (8/124). Symptomatic SI-PDS was observed in 2.4% (3/124) of patients overall: 6.5% of patients with an MPD diameter of