Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy by the "pull" and "introducer" methods.

After 28 patients, studied prospectively, underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) by the Ponsky "pull" technique, another 28 patients underwent PEG by the Russell "introducer" method. These two groups were compared retrospectively with 28 patients who had previously undergone Stamm gastrostomy as an independent operation performed by the same group of surgeons. All procedures were done within a 5-year period. The major indication for gastrostomy was the inability to swallow due to neurologic diseases; a similar number of patients in each group also had pharyngeal blockage, cachexia, respiratory failure and inhalation burns. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy could be done most appropriately under local anesthesia, the "introducer" method requiring less time than the "pull" method, which in turn required less time than the Stamm gastrostomy. Feeding was generally instituted successfully 24 hours after PEG compared with 3 days after Stamm gastrostomy. "Introducer" PEG was not associated with peristomal infection, and the authors postulate that the peristomal infections in the "pull" PEG group were due to oropharyngeal bacteria brought through the abdominal wall by that technique.