Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Biodegradable stent can be formed in the gastrointestinal lumen short-term, which has a good biocompatibility, and then completely degraded, and the degradation time of stent should be adjusted according to clinical needs, in order to avoid complications of permanent stents.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate application, compatibility evaluation and research progress of biodegradable gastrointestinal stents made by different materials.
METHODS: Taking “application and biocompatibility of biodegradable gastrointestinal stents” in Chinese as search terms, the researches related to biodegradable gastrointestinal stents from Wanfang database (1999-01/2009-12) was retrieved by computer. Repetitive, reviewed and Meta-analysis researches were excluded. A total of 22 documents were screened for evaluation.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The application of biodegradable stents in disease of digestive tract had showed their effective dilatancy and clinical safety. Biodegradable materials are mostly polymers, including natural biodegradable polymer, synthetic polymer micro-organisms and synthetic biodegradable polymer materials. Natural biodegradable polymers are mostly polysaccharides. Natural biodegradable polymers generally have a good biocompatibility, but their mechanical properties are poor. The research and application of synthetic polymer micro-organisms are less, while types of synthetic polymers are more, such as polylactide, polycaprolactone, and polyethylene glycol. The advantages of synthetic polymers are that they can be designed more flexible molecular structure, and obtained different kinds of materials according to the development of copolymers, and blends. Degradable stents can solve benign and malignant narrow recanalization and the sealing of fistula. However, the effect of degradable stents in alimentary system is still need a great deal of research to undergo evaluation in the future.