Sir, We read with great interest the original article by Janes et al and the accompanying Expert’s Comments by Lang published in the March 2005 issue of J Postgrad Med. Janes et al found that 30-day mortality of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) was 22% in a hospital in the UK during 2002 as opposed to a mortality of 10% 10 years earlier. This increase in mortality was attributed to a t...

Introduction: Gastrostomy is a medical procedure used to access the gastric cavity for the purpose of feeding patients unable to be fed by mouth for long periods, as a result of various diseases, including head and neck tumors and neurological disorders. Over the years various gastrostomy techniques have been developed to facilitate access to the stomach. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, us...

We describe the case of a hepatic injury after the insertion of a PEG. In a cirrhotic woman affected by a locally advanced cancer of the pharynx, the PEG tube was inserted through the edge of the left lobe of the liver. The patient was treated with a conservative approach by managing abdominal pain and the PEG was removed after 4 months without complication. Hepatic injury is a rare complicatio...

INTRODUCTION Percutaneous gastrostomy, is the procedure of choice to provide enteral access in patients requiring nutritional support in this way in the long run, relegating the surgical gastrostomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS We present three patients requiring percutaneous gastrostomy for nutritional support. In two cases was performed endoscopic gastrostomy and another one using interventional r...

Enternal nutrition is an important mode of treatment for Crohn's disease in children. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy has been little used, even through it can facilitate the administration of an unpalatable elemental diet to an anorexic, undernourished patients. Its use is reported in 10 children with Crohn's disease. The gastrostomy was found to be more acceptable than a nasogastric tube ...

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a simple, relatively safe and cost effective means of establishing enteral access for patients requiring long term nutritional support. PEG has several advantages over surgical gastrostomy and should be considered the procedure of choice for long term enteral therapy in appropriate patients. At the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital (QEMH) between Jun...

OBJECTIVE Few data exist in the literature about the relationship between percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) and gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in children, and the data that do exist are contradictory. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of PEG on GER. METHODS Twenty children underwent PEG for enteral nutrition. They were 55 +/- 55 months old and weighed 13 +/- 10 k...

Nutritional support is often an integral part of patient management. There are three principal access routes used for nutrient delivery: oral, enteral (tube feeding) and parenteral. Tube feeding is indicated for those patients who, in the presence of a functional gastrointestinal tract, cannot, should not or will not consume adequate nutrition orally. A number of different routes may be used in...