Palliative treatment of an enterorectal fistula with a covered metallic stent.

In patients with recurrent colorectal cancer, the development of fistulae presents a difficult therapeutic problem. The traditional surgical approach of resection and intestinal diversion may not always be appropriate in those with disseminated or terminal disease. We present the successful use of a covered esophageal stent to occlude an enterorectal rectal fistula in a patient with recurrent inoperable colonic carcinoma.