Long-term outcome after placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube

To evaluate long-term survival and prognostic factors in patients who have undergone placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube.

A retrospective analysis of all patients without malignancy who underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy at Hanyu General Hospital during the period January 2001-December 2005.

A total of 198 patients (100 men, 98 women) were assessed. Median age was 78 years (range, 25-97 years). The primary diagnosis was a cerebrovascular disorder in 149 (75.3%) of the patients. Prior to placement, 120 (60.6%) had suffered pneumonia. Survival was 87.4% at 1 month, 67.8% at 3 months, 52.6% at 6 months, 38.1% at 1 year, 27.8% at 2 years and 22.3% at 3 years. Pneumonia was the most common cause of death during the follow-up period (91 of 140 patients, 65.0%). Cox's proportional hazards model showed independent predictors of mortality to be a low serum albumin concentration (

Mortality of patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy appears to be high. In particular, the long-term prognosis was poor for patients with hypoalbuminemia, and this procedure is probably not preferred for patients with recurrent aspiration pneumonia.