A comparison of gastrostomy techniques in patients with advanced head and neck cancer

Patients with advanced head and neck carcinomas often suffer from impaired deglutition and require prolonged enteral feedings during therapy. This retrospective study analyzed 75 patients managed with three different gastrostomy techniques. Thirty patients received a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy; 28 patients had an open tube gastrostomy using a Foley or Malecot catheter through a purse-string stay suture; and 17 patients received an open-tube gastrostomy with a 1-cm Dacron-cuffed Silastic catheter enclosed in a 3-cm Witzel tunnel with the cuff buried in the subperitoneal pocket. The complication rate for 100 days of tube use was 0.21 for cuffed Silastic gastrostomy, 0.35 for open tube gastrostomy, and 1.41 for the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy group. We conclude that the cuffed Silastic gastrostomy technique is superior in this patient population.