title: Efficacy of half-solid nutrient for the elderly patients with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.
abstract: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube feeding is widely used for patients with swallowing dysfunction and a history of repeated aspiration pneumonitis. However, liquid nutrient feeding via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is not effective enough to prevent aspiration pneumonitis and related inflammatory responses. We performed this prospective multi-centre study to clarify the efficacy of half-solidification of nutrients to prevent fever possibly caused by aspiration pneumonitis in elderly patients with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. The study subjects were 42 elderly patients undergoing percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding (mean age 85.8 years). All subjects were fed half-solid as well as liquid nutrients for 8 weeks respectively in a cross over design. We counted the number of days with fever caused by pneumonitis and unidentified origin. Thirty-two of 42 patients were successfully observed in both nutrient periods. Fever was frequently observed in both nutrient periods, however, the percentage of observational days with fever during half-solid nutrient feeding was significantly lower than that during liquid nutrient feeding (15.3 ± 0.3 vs 19.8 ± 0.4%, p = 0.030). The percentage of observational days when patients had diarrhea was not significantly different (10.1 ± 3.8 vs 7.2 ± 3.2%, p = 0.357). In conclusion, half-solid nutrient feeding was determined to be effective for reducing fever in patients with percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding.
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, Izumo City General Medical Center, Izumo City, Shimane 693-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshitsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shizuku
authors.forename: Kyoichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furuta
authors.forename: Misa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niigaki
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyaoka
authors.forename: Setsushi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: Kohsaku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kinoshita