Covered stents facilitate complete resolution of esophageal anasto­motic leaks within days to weeks. Studies show that esophageal stents allow much earlier resumption of oral intake and signicantly shorter hospital stays and have an 87% to 94% success rate. e principle behind the use of stents is that they are able to eectively “bridge the breach” and in doing so provide a scaold that allows for reap­proximation of the two ends, mucosal regeneration, and prevention of further drainage through the anastomotic defect. Only a small number of studies, mainly composed of case series, include colorec­tal anastomotic leaks. Reports show varying degrees of success in treating acute leaks, complete anastomotic disunion, and chronic stulas. Very limited controlled evidence is available at this time. Covered stents placed across the leaked anastomosis close the defect and can create an undrained abscess, and thus it is necessary to place a counter drain into the cavity of the abscess. Proximal diversion is sometimes needed with covered stents, because stent migration remains a signicant problem and recurrent sepsis can result from stent migration in a patient without proximal diversion. Partially covered stents with uncovered anges are less prone to migrate, but tissue in-growth can make removal very dicult. A fully covered stent can be deployed within the partially covered stent a few days prior to removal, which allows for pressure-induced necrosis of the mucosal ingrowth, thereby facilitating stent removal. Migration can be prevented through the use of full-thickness sutures or endoscopic clips placed at the ends of the stent, and larger diameter and longer stents migrate less frequently. Stents migrate far less when traversing a stricture, and thus a certain degree of stenosis can be helpful when placing a stent for leaks.