title: Can percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy be carried out safely in the elderly?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is carried out commonly for patients with dysphagia. Clinicians, however, are often reluctant to carry out PEG in the elderly because of concerns about complications and short life expectancy. The present study aimed to assess the safety of PEG in elderly patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 116 patients who received PEG from October 2005 to May 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. Among them, 63 patients were aged 65 years and older (the elderly group), and 53 were aged less than 65 years (the younger group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Baseline characteristics showed no significant difference in both groups, except that pulmonary comorbidities was more common in the elderly group (P = 0.003). Overall, PEG-related complications occurred in 23 (19.8%) patients. Wound infections were the most common (15 patients), and followed by gastrointestinal bleeding, esophageal injury, pneumomediastinum and buried bumper syndrome. Although there was no difference in the overall complications, wound infections were less frequent in the elderly group than in the younger group (4 [6.3%] out of 63 vs 11 [20.8%] out of 53, P = 0.027). There were 17 (14.7%) cases of mortality, with three patients (2.5%) dying within 30 days after the procedure and the causes of deaths were unrelated to PEG. No significant difference in mortality rate was observed between the two groups (13 [20.6%] vs 4 [7.5%], P = 0.065).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PEG can be carried out safely in elderly patients, as procedure-related complications and mortality did not increase compared with those of younger patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Jun
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Bernice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyoun Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hak
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Yun Jeong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Moon-Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University, College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000601:surgery*; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods*; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: dysphagia; elderly patients; hospitalization; nutrition; percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy