Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy after abdominal surgery.
BACKGROUND
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) has been established as a minimally invasive and safe procedure to provide nutritional support in patients unable to swallow food properly. However, a relative contraindication for the procedure is the existence of previous abdominal surgery.


METHODS
We described our experience in performing PEG on 37 patients who had undergone surgery for upper abdominal diseases 10 days to 25 years previously. This group of 37 patients, 22 of whom had been subjected to laparotomy in the previous 2 weeks, was compared with 291 patients who had an intact abdomen regarding failure of the procedure to be performed, major and minor complications, and mortality.


RESULTS
The two groups were found to be comparable: failure rates of 2.71% (1/37) and 1.72% (5/291), no major complications, no mortality, minor complication rates of 2.77% (1/36) and 2.44% (7/286).


CONCLUSIONS
The PEG procedure is associated with minimal risk even in patients previously subjected to upper abdominal surgery, as long as transillumination of the stomach and finger palpation are seen clearly during endoscopy.
Eleftheriadis
E
E
Department of Surgery, University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Kotzampassi
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018529:Nutritional Support / Q000379:methods*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012086:Reoperation; D016896:Treatment Outcome