Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy in Pediatric Patients (original) (raw)

Adequate nutrition is important in the management of children with chronic illnesses. Patients who are unwilling or unable to eat will starve. Starvation depletes tissue stores, and ultimately leads to impaired organ function and tissue structure. Appropriate caloric intake enables growth, promotes tissue repair, and improve immune function. Access to the intestinal tract may be via a nasal tube or by the percutaneous route, with delivery to the stomach or jejunum. Nasogastric tubes are employed for short-term feeding, usually up to four weeks. In children requiring long term tube feeding, nasogastric feeding may be uncomfortable, disfiguring and often traumatic. Percutaneous access is usually by either endoscopic or radiological techniques. Percutaneous gastrostomy is basically a sutureless approximation of the stomach to the abdominal wall. The percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) becomes the most popular technique nowadays. The first PEG was performed in the pediatric operating room of University Hospitals of Cleveland on June 12, 1979 on a four-and-half-month-old child with inadequate oral intake. The procedure was performed under sedation and local anesthesia. The child did remarkably well. However, because the initial tube used was a 12F catheter with small mushroom head, external migration ensued after 3 weeks. The catheter was changed under direct visualization, using a small laparotomy (Gauderer, 2002). Since then the procedure has been adopted worldwide for both children and adults. Because the procedure is considered minimally invasive, rapid, and associated with low risk of complications, and short hospital stay, it has become the preferred method for delivering nutritional support in vulnerable pediatric patients. The benefits not only include successful nutritional rehabilitation, but also accelerated growth (Craig et al., 2006, Sullivan et al., 2005) enhanced carer satisfaction (Avitsland et al., 2006) and quality of life (Sullivan et al., 2004). 2. Indications The main clinical indications for PEG placement in children are as follows (Table 1): 2.1 Inability to swallow Children with neurological impairment comprise the majority of this category. They often have difficulty eating and drinking. These difficulties are due to problems with oro