Long-term outcome after placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate long-term survival and prognostic factors in patients who have undergone placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of all patients without malignancy who underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy at Hanyu General Hospital during the period January 2001-December 2005.


RESULTS
A total of 198 patients (100 men, 98 women) were assessed. Median age was 78 years (range, 25-97 years). The primary diagnosis was a cerebrovascular disorder in 149 (75.3%) of the patients. Prior to placement, 120 (60.6%) had suffered pneumonia. Survival was 87.4% at 1 month, 67.8% at 3 months, 52.6% at 6 months, 38.1% at 1 year, 27.8% at 2 years and 22.3% at 3 years. Pneumonia was the most common cause of death during the follow-up period (91 of 140 patients, 65.0%). Cox's proportional hazards model showed independent predictors of mortality to be a low serum albumin concentration (<or=2.9 g/dL) and history of pneumonia before the procedure.


CONCLUSIONS
Mortality of patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy appears to be high. In particular, the long-term prognosis was poor for patients with hypoalbuminemia, and this procedure is probably not preferred for patients with recurrent aspiration pneumonia.
Tokunaga
Takanari
T
Department of Medicine, Hanyu General Hospital, Hanyu City, Saitama, Japan.
Kubo
Tadahiko
T
Ryan
Suhen
S
Tomizawa
Muneo
M
Yoshida
Shin-ichi
S
Takagi
Koutarou
K
Furui
Kumiko
K
Gotoh
Toshio
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011015:Pneumonia, Aspiration; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis*; D013534:Survival; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D012709:Serum Albumin