PERCUTANEOUS ENDOSCOPIC GASTROSTOMY LONG-TERM ENTERAL TUBE-FEEDING

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is the preferred method for administration of longterm enteral tube feeding. Data on long-term follow-ups are rare. We report the long-term outcome and the complication rates after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in 165 patients (mean age 70 years). The most common indications were neurologicaly-related swallowing disorders. The data were collected prospectively. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in patients was technically successful in 164 patients (99%), with a mean implantation time of 12 minutes. The procedure-related morbidity was 1.2%. The mean length of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding was 26 weeks (1-98) for the Charriere 9-tube and 29 weeks (1-158) for Charriere 15-tubes. There were 12% tube-related and 15% feeding-related late complications, the main ones being local skin infections (7.3%) and gastric perforations (1.2%). The procedure-related mortality was 0.6%. We conclude that endoscopically assisted percutaneous gastrostomy is the procedure of choice for long-term enteral nutrition in patients requiring tube-feeding.