Developing a protocol for gastrostomy tube insertion in patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer

Selecting patients with head and neck cancer requiring a pretreatment gastrostomy feeding tube is not straightforward. The nutritional status and functional deficits associated with the cancer, its treatment, and the long-term side effects predicate the need for gastrostomy tube placement. However, gastrostomy tubes are not without morbidity and are an added burden to the patient. The aim of this retrospective case series review was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of newly diagnosed patients with head and neck cancer treated with curative intent having gastrostomy placement, with the intent of developing a protocol to help with the timely selection of patients for pretreatment gastrostomy insertion. A gastrostomy tube was placed in 32%. A regression model identified 5 independent predictors (P < .001) to predict gastrostomy tube placement: overall clinical stage, tumor site, clinical T stage, patient age, and clinical N stage. A protocol to help the multidisciplinary team to decide whether a pretreatment gastrostomy tube should be placed is suggested.