Table 2.

Treatment characteristics

	Covered self-expandable metal stents	Multiple plastic stents	P value
Stent treatment duration (days)
Median	381	390	0.531
Total number of ERCP
Median	2	5	0.001
Number of stents per ERCP/patient
Median	1	4	0.001
Range	1-3	1-6
Total number of stents per patients
Median	1	12	0.001
Range	1-3	1-27
Adverse events
Sphincterotomy bleeding	3	1
Dilatation bleeding	1	0
Choledocholithiasis/occlusion of stent	25	7
Acute pancreatitis	7	0
Cholangitis	4	0
Perforation	1	1
Stricture after sphincterotomy	0	1
Hemobilia	0	0
Abdominal pain	0	0
Stricture caused by the stent	3	0
Technical difficulty in removing the stent	0	0
Bleeding removing the stent	1	0
Death	12	4	0.504
Death related to ERCP procedure	0	0

ERCP: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.