title: Is short-term percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement beneficial in acutely ill cognitively intact elderly patients? A proposed decision-making algorithm.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube is an important method of enteral feeding for patients who require temporary or long-term artificial nutritional support to prevent or correct disease-related malnutrition. However, there is paucity of data on the utility of short-term PEG tube placements in acute illnesses in cognitively intact older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present a series of seven, cognitively intact patients (age range 72-93 years), who had PEG tubes placed for short periods. These patients were diagnosed with "failure to thrive" and were managed by placing a PEG tube temporarily for nutritional management. None of these patients had terminal illness or hospice eligibility, and all of the patients were community dwellers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the elderly patients experienced good outcomes in terms of their functional status and nutritional support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our series clearly supports the notion that short-term PEG tube placement in cognitively intact elderly patients could be a successful strategy to support them during an episode of acute illness, and to improve their nutritional deficits and survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics and Reynolds Institute of Aging, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
authors.forename: Rtika R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: Mohit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Girotra
authors.forename: Jeanne Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Gohar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Azhar
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007441:Intubation, Gastrointestinal; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: elderly; percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube; short-term
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