Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C0183512
UMD: Stents designed for deployment into the biliary ducts to provide support for and/or maintain patency within the biliary duct tree. These devices may consist of a metallic (e.g., meshlike wire) or plastic tube, and they are available in several different shapes (e.g., straight, bent, pigtail) and sizes to adapt to particular sections of the biliary tree 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-expandable, and they may be deployed through endoscopic or percutaneous transhepatic procedures. Biliary stents are used mainly to open strictures of the ducts caused by malignant tumors or benign diseases, restoring the flow of bile.