EUS-guided percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy for enteral feeding tube placement

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and jejunostomy: Indications and techniques

Nutritional support is essential in patients who have a limited capability to maintain their body weight. Therefore, oral feeding is the main approach for such patients. When physiological nutrition is not possible, positioning of a nasogastric, nasojejunal tube, or other percutaneous devices may be feasible alternatives. Creating a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a suitable option to be evaluated for patients that need nutritional support for more than 4 wk. Many diseases require nutritional support by PEG, with neurological, oncological, and catabolic diseases being the most common. PEG can be performed endoscopically by various techniques, radiologically or surgically, with different outcomes and related adverse events (AEs). Moreover, some patients that need a PEG placement are fragile and are unable to express their will or sign a written informed consent. These conditions highlight many ethical problems that become difficult to manage as treatment progresses. The aim of this manuscript is to review all current endoscopic techniques for percutaneous access, their indications, postprocedural follow-up, and AEs.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is the method of choice for feeding and nutritional support in patients with a normal gastrointestinal function who require long-term enteral nutrition. We report our experience regarding an alternative endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided PEG technique. A retrospective clinical experience case series study was conducted from January 2019 to November 2019 at a tertiary center. Adult patients deemed unfit for conventional PEG due to absence of transillumination or previous gastric surgery were enrolled. An EUS target was created by filling a glove with saline and placing it in the abdomen. EUS was performed and the target identified from the stomach. The abdominal wall was punctured from the stomach and a guidewire was advanced. The guidewire was knotted to a string, which was passed into the stomach and drawn back through the mouth. The procedure was continued following the traditional technique. Four patients underwent EUS-PEG in our center during the study period. Mean age was 65 years and 50% were male. Two patients (50%) had a body mass index over 30. PEG indications were tongue malignancies (50%), cerebrovascular disease (25%) and dementia (25%). One patient had a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy was performed. Technical success rate was 100% and no complications occurred. This case series shows that the EUS-guided PEG technique is a safe alternative in patients deemed unfit for conventional PEG.

Balloon-assisted ultrasonic localization: a novel technique for direct percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy

Direct percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (DPEJ) is a useful method for the establishment of enteral nutrition (EN) pathway. However, the identification of stomal puncture points for DPEJ is difficult. Here we present a case treated with an improved technique for DPEJ puncture-point localization, which was named DPEJ with balloon-assisted ultrasonic localization (DPEJ-BAUL). There were four steps after insertion of an endoscope into the jejunum: (1) a balloon dilatation catheter was inserted through the endoscope working channel; (2) the balloon was fully filled with water; (3) the site of puncture was selected with an ultrasonic probe percutaneously locating the water-filled balloon; and (4) a jejunostomy tube was placed by introducer technique. Rapid localization of a puncture site was possible with BAUL and the DPEJ procedure was successful. The patient's nutritional status was improved with EN and no postoperative complications were observed. DPEJ-BAUL is a feasible and effective technique to increase the technical success rate of DPEJ in patients with negative transillumination test results.

Laparoscopy-assisted percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy enables enteral nutrition even in patients with distorted anatomy

AIM: To analyzed whether laparoscopy-assisted percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) could be a valuable option for patients with complicated anatomy.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis of twelve patients (seven females, five males; six children, six young adults; mean age 19.2 years) with cerebral palsy, spastic quadriparesis, severe kyphoscoliosis and interposed organs and who required enteral nutrition (EN) due to starvation was performed. For all patients, standard PEG placement was impossible due to distorted anatomy. All the patients qualified for the laparoscopy-assisted PEG procedure.

RESULTS: In all twelve patients, the laparoscopy-assisted PEG was successful, and EN was introduced four to six hours after the PEG placement. There were no complications in the perioperative period, either technical or metabolic. All the patients were discharged from the hospital and were then effectively fed using bolus methods.

CONCLUSION: Laparoscopy-assisted PEG should become the method of choice for gastrostomy tube placement and subsequent EN if PEG placement cannot be performed safely.

Endoscopic solutions to challenging enteral feeding problems

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Enteral nutrition support is often required in patients who are unable to meet their own nutritional requirements. Endoscopists play a key role in the placement of enteral feeding catheters. This review focuses on the recently published solutions to common problems encountered during endoscopic placement of enteral feeding devices.

RECENT FINDINGS

Case reports and case series describe solutions for overcoming common problems encountered during the placement of enteral feeding devices. Transnasal techniques can simplify nasojejunal tube placement, whereas deep enteroscopy techniques provide more reliable jejunostomy placement. Endoscopic ultrasound can help when transillumination is not possible or in the setting of postsurgical anatomy like Roux-en-Y. Laparoscopic-assisted procedures are useful when endoscopic techniques have failed in adults or in select high-risk pediatric patients. The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the American Gastroenterology Association both published comprehensive guidelines that outline the indications, contraindications, technical aspects of feeding catheter placement, and complications.

SUMMARY

Advances in endoscopic techniques, including deep enteroscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, ultra-slim transnasal endoscopes and laparoscopic-assisted procedures, have enabled endoscopists to successfully place enteral feeding tubes in patients who previously required open procedures.