Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Meta-Anal. Mar 18, 2025; 13(1): 100176
Published online Mar 18, 2025. doi: 10.13105/wjma.v13.i1.100176
Systematic review comparing the efficacy and safety of covered and uncovered self-expanding metal stents in benign airway stenosis
Luke Han, Ern Wei Peck, Elizabeth Teo, Kay Choong See
Luke Han, Ern Wei Peck, Elizabeth Teo, Yong Loo Li School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore
Kay Choong See, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore 119228, Singapore
Author contributions: Han L and Peck EW contributed to the data collection; Teo E performed the data analysis; Han L, Peck EW, Teo E, and See KC contributed to the writing of this manuscript; All co-authors read and approved the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kay Choong See, Associate Professor, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Level 10, NUHS Tower Block, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore. kaychoongsee@nus.edu.sg
Received: August 9, 2024
Revised: January 11, 2025
Accepted: January 21, 2025
Published online: March 18, 2025
Processing time: 217 Days and 2.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Covered self-expanding metal stents (SEMS) are viable alternatives to uncovered SEMS and silicone stents, with higher stenting success rates and less complication risks. This is a systematic review evaluating the safety and efficacy of SEMS in benign airway stenosis treatment. Our results challenge the existing guidelines that favor silicone stents and point to contemporary covered SEMS as a viable alternative in view of its increased insertion success and lower complication rates, compared to uncovered SEMS.