Life with PEG: Prospective study on complications of and satisfaction with enteral nutrition via gastrostomy

Malnutrition is a significant problem with prognostic relevance. Feeding via a PEG tube is the most common form of long-term enteral nutrition, but current data on complications, quality of life under and satisfaction with the tube are not available.

In an two-center, prospective uncontrolled study, 220 consecutive patients (mean age 72 years (39-97 years), 89 female) were followed and their relatives, caregivers and general practitioners were interviewed before and up to 52 weeks after PEG placement. Objective parameters such as weight, complications and hospital admissions as well as subjective parameters such as general condition, practicability of and satisfaction with tube feeding were recorded.

Complications occurred in only 17 patients (8%), of which only 8 cases (3.6%) required intervention. Satisfaction with the various aspects of PEG feeding was surprisingly high in all groups surveyed (consistently around or over 90 %), and a stable or even improved general condition was reported in 80-85 %. The 4-week mortality rate was 14%, but in no case tube-associated.

Enteral feeding via PEG tube is a safe and low-complication method that leads to a high level of satisfaction among patients, relatives, caregivers, and general practitioners. In a considerable proportion of patients, enteral feeding was associated with a maintained or even improved general condition, although these results are difficult to assess in the absence of a control group. The relatively high (not tube-associated) 4-week mortality suggests a partially incorrect (or too late) indication.