Patients with esophageal self-expandable metallic stents may present with food boluses lodged within the stent lumen.

Self-expandable metallic stents are typically inserted at the time of endoscopy, usually with assistance with fluoroscopy or x-ray images taken to guide placement.

Endoscopic stents are commonly referred to as self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS).

Self-expandable metallic stents are cylindrical in shape, and are devised in a number of diameters and lengths to suit the application in question.

Esophageal stents may be self-expandable metallic stents, or made of plastic, or silicone, and may be used in the treatment of esophageal cancer.

Today's nitinol vascular self-expandable metallic stents, for example, show no evidence of corrosion or nickel release, and the outcomes in patients with and without nickel allergies are indistinguishable.