GASTROINTESTINAL HEMORRHAGE DUE TO DUODENAL EROSION BY A BILIARY WALLSTENT

A self-expanding metallic stent (Wallstent) was used to relieve obstru ction of the common bile duct in a young male with a desmoplastic smal l cell tumor of the abdomen. Two months after insertion and following a course of chemotherapy the lower end of the stent eroded the mucosa of the second part of the duodenum causing severe gastrointestinal hem orrhage which necessitated laparotomy and trimming of the stent. This complication may have been due to shrinking of the tumor as well as th rombocytopenia following chemotherapy.