Background: Prolonged enteral feedings are required occasionally in seriously burned individuals. We have employed percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in selected patients who require particularly prolonged access, thus prompting this review.
Methods: The PEG procedure was performed under general anesthesia in combination with another surgical procedure using a variety of commercially available needle and guidewire kits in 14 patients.
Results: These 14 patients had an average age of 55.2 +/- 6.6 years and a burn involving 38 +/- 8% of the body surface. Eleven of these patients had suffered an inhalation injury. The tubes were placed an average of 57 +/- 10.5 days after injury through unburned and unharvested skin in four patients (28%), healed donor sites in five patients (35%), healed burn in one patient (1%), and grafted burn in four patients (28%). One patient, whose catheter was placed through a grafted fascial excision, developed moderate local wound erosion. Tubes were known to have been left in place as long as 155 days. However, most were removed in rehabilitation hospitals, and we were unable to determine how long most were left in place. We are unaware of any problems with the tubes occurring after discharge from the acute care setting.
Conclusions: In selected patients, PEG can provide more comfortable access for prolonged enteral feedings than nasogastric tubes and can be placed with minimal morbidity.