Balloon-assisted Jejunostomy Placement

Abstract

Jejunal feeding is indicated in patients with functional or physical abnormalities that prevent gastrostomy tube placement or feeding. J-tubes are most often placed using one of four techniques: Open surgical, laparoscopic, needle catheter, or direct percutaneous placement, depending on the patient needs and expertise of the surgeon. Minimally invasive techniques are considered standard of care, and thus, J-tube placement most often occurs through laparoscopic methods. While percutaneous insertion using balloon dilation rather than serial dilation has shown greater success rates, lower complication rates, and alleviates patient discomfort in G-tube placement, this procedure has not been utilized for J-tube placement. Here, we report a balloon-assisted jejunostomy placement technique utilized to replace a previous surgical jejunostomy tube that the cutaneous tract had healed over.