Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) is the standard method for enteral feeding in patients predicted to require long-term enteral nutrition because of dysphagia. The aim of this study was to assess the complications of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy performed using the pull technique.

Methods: Between January 2011 and December 2011, 74 patients underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy using the pull-through technique at Hazrat Rasoul Akram hospital. We analyzed the clinical characteristics of the patients related to the development of complications in a retrospective and cross-sectional study. Peritonitis, abscess, septicemia and bleeding were defined as major complications. Tube-related problems, including dislodgment, obstruction, leakage, vomiting and infection, were classified as minor complications.

Results: Patients had mean age of 60+/-21 (range: 5-90 years of age). Fifty four percent of them were females (n=40) and 46% were males (n=43). The most common indication for PEG was neurologic disorders in 73% patients. There was an overall complication rate of 18.9%. The rates of major, minor and late complications were 2.8% 14.9% and 1.4%, respectively. The mean time of complication after PEG insertion was 78.85 ± 107.13 days and 84.6% of them occurred during three months. There was no difference between mean age and sex of patients with and without complication. There was no relationship between age, sex, underlying diseases and duration of hospital stay before PEG insertion and incidence of PEG complications.

Conclusions: FPG is a safe method with low complication rate for constructing long-term enteral access in patients although it has a number of complications, though most of them are minor. Patients must therefore be informed that this is not a complication-free procedure.