Otaru consensus on biliary stenting for unresectable distal malignant biliary obstruction.

Endoscopic biliary drainage with biliary stent placement is the treatment of choice for palliation in patients with malignant biliary obstruction caused by unresectable neoplasms. Various biliary stent designs have become available, but lack of a clear consensus persists on the use of covered versus uncovered metal stents in malignant distal bile duct obstructions, and plastic versus metal stents. In 2012, the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy indicated guidelines for biliary stenting. Accordingly, the consensus meeting for biliary stenting was held at the Endoscopic Forum Japan 2012, and four selected statements related to stent placement for distal malignant biliary obstruction were discussed to produce a consensus. Two of four statements (related to the usefulness of self-expandable metallic stents, and reintervention after stenting) were agreed upon by almost all participants. Nevertheless, our opinions were divided on the other two statements (necessity of sphincterotomy for stenting, and covered metal stent versus uncovered metal stent). We herein report the results of the meeting, and present proposed new statements via discussion.