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Stents designed for deployment into the main pancreatic duct to provide support for and/or maintain patency within the duct. These devices may consist of a metallic (e.g., meshlike wire) or plastic tube, and they are available in several different shapes and sizes and with various numbers of barbs or pigtails to adapt to particular sections of the duct and/or to prevent migration. The stent surface may be coated to give the stent special capabilities (e.g., water repellant). Metallic stents may be either balloon-expandable or self-expanding, and they may be deployed through endoscopic or percutaneous transhepatic procedures. Pancreatic stents are used to open strictures of the ducts caused by malignant tumors or benign diseases, restoring the flow of pancreatic juice to the duodenum.
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