[Percutaneous gastrostomy]

Enteral feeding is the preferred method of nutritional management in malnourished patients with intact gastrointestinal function. Although the surgical gastrostomy is usually effective, its morbidity and mortality is still not negligible. Recently, alternative percutaneous method for placement of gastrostomy tube have been developed and several large series have been published in the English literatures. Since May 1986 we have performed percutaneous gastrostomy on over 30 patients and there were only one major morbidity but no procedure-related mortalities. The purpose of this paper is to describe our experience and to discuss its potential problems.