Studies (any design) of self-expanding stents for the treatment of acute anastomotic leaks that resulted from any type of bariatric surgery were eligible for inclusion. Studies in which stents were placed for anastomotic strictures or established fistulae were excluded.
The included studies considered patients who underwent several types of bariatric surgery that included Roux-en-Y bypass, sleeve gastrectomy alone, duodenal switch alone, sleeve gastrectomy with duodenal switch, biliopancreatic diversion and vertical banded gastroplasty. Leak locations included the gastric pouch, gastrojejunal and gastric anastomosis, and gastroesophageal junction. Various types of stent were studied (PolyFlex, Ultraflex, Silky oesophageal, Hanarostent, Ella Boubella, Alveolus and Niti-S). Publication dates ranged from 2006 to 2009.
Two reviewers independently performed study selection.