Gastrostomy placement : when fluoroscopy helps the endoscopist.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is the most common therapeutic procedure performed by the digestive endoscopists in the upper gastrointestinal tract. It aims to feed patients presenting denutrition and/or insufficient oral intake. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feasibility is about 95-100 % although in some cases it is impossible to achieve it, leading to ask for a surgical placement. Even though the feasibility of the surgical approach is excellent its complications are quite higher than percutaneous endoscopic placement, it requires general anesthesia and sometimes these patients could be non elligible for it due to their comorbidities (malnutrition, cardio-vascular diseases etc.). Another alternative technique is the percutaneous radiological gastrostomy but this procedure is rarely available in our country.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We described four cases in patients with previous failure of PEG, in which we used an hybrid approach between radiological and endoscopic techniques, allowing the placement of gastrostomy tube, without general anesthesia.

RESULTS

This was successful in all patients and there was no complication related to the procedure.

CONCLUSIONS

This technique offers an additionnal opportunity to avoid general anesthesia and surgical complications in patients with unfavorable conditions.