Retrospective Analysis of Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Cases in the Endoscopy Unit

Abstract

Aims: Enteral nutrition is considered a primary, first-choice nutrition method when the passage in the gastrointestinal tract is open. The present study attempted to present the experience of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy performed in our endoscopy unit. Methods: This study investigated the data of 39 patients undergoing the placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) catheter in our endoscopy unit between July 2019 and November 2020. A team of experienced specialists, assistant physicians, and nurses performed the procedure at the bedside for patients intubated in the intensive care unit or with a poor general condition or in the endoscopy unit for other patients after being sedated by the anesthesiologist. The patients were started to be fed through the PEG catheter with an initial dose of 10 cc/hour, correlated with the clinical nutrition unit, at the 6th and 12th hours following the procedure, and the dose was gradually increased to the target dose. The patients’ data were presented as frequencies and percentages (%). Results: The data of 39 patients, 17 (44%) females and 22 (56%) males, were retrospectively investigated in this study. The median age of the patients was found to be 67 years (21-102 years). While 32 patients were hospitalized in the intensive care unit, four received palliative care, and three were followed up in the clinic wards. Considering the pathologies leading to the indication of PEG catheter placement, 15 patients had Cerebrovascular disease, 12 had Alzheimer’s disease, 4 had absent swallow reflex, 3 had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, 2 had a hypoxic brain, 1 had spastic cerebral palsy, 1 had Sanfilippo syndrome, and 1 had oral feeding intolerance. No complications developed in any of the patients during the procedure. While 24 patients were discharged, mortality developed in 15 during hospitalization due to primary pathology. Conclusion: Contemporarily, a key requirement for optimal treatment is adequate nutrition, and the superiority of enteral nutrition is indisputable in providing such nutrition. PEG is known to be a more efficient method in long-term nutrition when compared to other enteral feeding methods. In conclusion, PEG can be performed for relevant patients with low complication rates in general surgery endoscopy units.