Laparoscopic versus percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy placement in children: Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis

Advances and challenges of gastrostomy insertion in children

When oral feeding cannot provide adequate nutritional support to children, enteral tube feeding becomes a necessity. The overall aim is to ultimately promote appropriate growth, improve the patient's quality of life and increase carer satisfaction. Nasogastric tube feeding is considered appropriate on a short-term basis. Alternatively, gastrostomy feeding offers a more convenient and safer feeding option especially as it does not require frequent replacements, and carries a lower risk of complications. Gastrostomy tube feeding should be considered when nasogastric tube feeding is required for more than 2-3 wk as per the ESPEN guidelines on artificial enteral nutrition. Several techniques can be used to insert gastrostomies in children including endoscopic, image guided and surgical gastrostomy insertion whether open or laparoscopic. Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages. The timing of gastrostomy insertion, device choice and method of insertion is dependent on the local expertise, patient requirements and family preference, and should be individualized with a multidisciplinary team approach. We aim to review gastrostomy insertion in children including indications, contraindications, history of gastrostomy, insertion techniques and complications.

Complications of Percutaneous and Surgical Gastrostomy Placements in Children: a Single-Centre Series

Gastrostomy placement is a standard procedure for children requiring enteral feeding for more than 3-6 weeks. Various techniques have been described (percutaneous endoscopic, laparoscopy, and laparotomy), and many complications have been reported. In our center, gastrostomy placement is performed either percutaneously by pediatric gastroenterologists, by laparoscopy/laparotomy by the visceral surgery team, or jointly, that is laparoscopic-assisted percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. This study aims to report all complications and identify risk factors and ways to prevent them.

Methods

This is a monocentric retrospective study including children younger than 18 years who underwent gastrostomy placement (percutaneous or surgical) between January 2012 and December 2020. Complications that occurred up to 1 year after placement were collected and classified according to their time of onset, degree of severity, and management. A univariate analysis was conducted to compare the groups and the occurrence of complications.

Results

We established a cohort of 124 children. Sixty-three (50.8%) presented a concomitant neurological disease. Fifty-nine patients (47.6%) underwent endoscopic placement, 59 (47.6%) surgical placement, and 6 (4.8%) laparoscopic-assisted percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. Two hundred and two complications were described, including 29 (14.4%) major and 173 (85.6%) minor. Abdominal wall abscess and cellulitis were reported 13 times. Patients who underwent surgical placement presented more complications (major and minor combined) with a statistically significant difference compared with the endoscopic technique. Patients with a concomitant neurological disease had significantly more early complications in the percutaneous group. Patients with malnutrition had significantly more major complications requiring endoscopic or surgical management.

Conclusion

This study highlights a significant number of major complications or complications requiring additional management under general anesthesia. Children with a concomitant neurological disease or malnutrition are at greater risk of severe and early complications. Infections remain a frequent complication, and prevention strategies should be reviewed.

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement via the introducer technique is safe and effective in children when compared to the laparoscopic technique

PURPOSE

We compare our experience of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, introducer technique (PEG) and laparoscopic technique (LapGT) at a tertiary care pediatric hospital.

METHODS

Isolated PEGs and LapGTs placements were reviewed at our institution from August 2016 through January 2018. Demographics, procedure time, operative charges, and 30-day complications were reviewed. Means of quantitative values were compared using the student's t test. Categorical values were compared using the X² test.

RESULTS

Ninety-three isolated gastrostomy tubes were placed in children aged 2 weeks to 19 years. There were 56 PEGs (60%) and 37 LapGTs (40%), based on surgeon preference. There was no significant difference in demographics between the two groups. Mean operative time for PEG was 59% shorter (14 vs. 33 min, p < 0.001). Operating room charges averaged $4500 less in the PEG group ($11,400 vs. $15,900, p < 0.001). Neither group had complications that required a return to the operating room within 30 days postoperatively. There was no difference in the rate of fundoplication after gastrostomy tube placement. In two cases PEGs were converted to LapGTs after safety criteria for PEG were not met.

CONCLUSION

The PEG introducer technique, when used with clearly defined safety criteria, decreased operative time and cost without compromising safety.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

III.

Influence of laparoscopy-aided gastrostomy on gastroesophageal reflux in neurologically impaired patients using multichannel intraluminal impedance pH measurements

BACKGROUND

Development of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) after gastrostomy remains debatable. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate whether laparoscopy-aided gastrostomy (LAG) influence on the occurrence of GERD in neurologically impaired (NI) patients. Furthermore, we investigated whether preoperatively excluding NI patients with GERD can reduce the number of patients requiring subsequent anti-reflux surgery (ARS) after LAG.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 35 NI patients (median age: 11.0; interquartile range 5.0-23.5 years) who underwent LAG according to our criterion from October 2012 to June 2020 and MII-pH before and after LAG. MII-pH parameters were compared in all patients and among three age groups between before and after LAG.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in MII-pH parameters before and 1 year after LAG in all patients, and no patient underwent subsequent ARS. Only one paediatric patient with 64 number of reflux episodes before LAG required subsequent ARS 3 years after LAG.

CONCLUSIONS

Generally, LAG did not influence the postoperative GERD at 1 year after LAG, and our criteria could reduce the number of patients requiring subsequent ARS. However, paediatric NI patients with higher number of reflux episodes in preoperative MII-pH study may need careful long-term follow-up after LAG.

Variability in the Method of Gastrostomy Placement in Children

Although gastrostomy placement is one of the most common procedures performed in children, the optimal technique remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate variability in the method of gastrostomy tube placement in children in the United States. Patients <18 years old undergoing percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) or surgical gastrostomy (SG) (including open or laparoscopic) from 1997 to 2012 were identified using the Kids’ Inpatient Database. Method of gastrostomy placement was evaluated using a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression model with a random intercept term and a patient-age random-effect term. A total of 67,811 gastrostomy placements were performed during the study period. PEG was used in 36.6% of entries overall and was generally consistent over time. PEG placement was less commonly performed in infants (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.30, 95%CI 0.26–0.33), children at urban hospitals (aOR: 0.38, 95%CI 0.18–0.82), and children cared for at children’s hospitals (aOR 0.57, 95%CI 0.48–0.69) and was more commonly performed in children with private insurance (aOR 1.17, 95%CI 1.09–1.25). Dramatic variability in PEG use was identified between centers, ranging from 0% to 100%. The random intercept and slope terms significantly improved the model, confirming significant center-level variability and increased variability among patients <1 year old. These findings emphasize the need to further evaluate the safest method of gastrostomy placement in children, in particular among the youngest patients in whom practice varies the most.

Comparison of major complications in children after laparoscopy-assisted gastrostomy and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy placement: a meta-analysis

PURPOSE

A meta-analysis was performed to compare the rates of the major complications associated with two gastrostomy tube placement techniques in a pediatric population: laparoscopy-assisted gastrostomy (LAG) and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG).

METHODS

The PubMed electronic database was queried for comparative studies of the two insertion techniques. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) was used for the assessment of the quality and risk of bias in the included studies. The main outcome measure was the frequency of major complications defined as the need for reoperation within 30 days or death. RevMan 5.3, was used, with a p < 0.05 indicating statistical significance.

RESULTS

Eight studies including 1550 patients met the inclusion criteria. The risk for major complications was higher in PEG than in LAG 3.86 (95% confidence interval 1.90-7.81; p < 0.0002). The number needed to treat to reduce one major complication by performing LAG instead of PEG was 23. There were no randomized-controlled trials. Overall, the quality of the included studies was determined to be unsatisfactory.

CONCLUSIONS

PEG placement was associated with a significantly higher risk of major complications compared to LAG placement. Therefore, LAG should be the preferred method for gastrostomy tube placement in children.

A new laparoscopic triangle fixation technique for gastrostomy: a safe and effective procedure for reduction of the wound infection rate

Gastrostomy is often performed with fundoplication in handicapped children. We devised a new laparoscopic triangle fixation technique for gastrostomy. In this study, 100 patients underwent gastrostomy with fundoplication between January 2008 and January 2016. We retrospectively reviewed the early postoperative results between the new laparoscopic procedure (NLP) group (n = 63) and conventional procedure (CP) group (n = 37). In the CP, the gastrostomy tube was inserted with a purse-string ligature at the gastric wall, and the gastric wall was sutured to the peritoneum under a small laparotomy. In NLP, three sutures were placed on the gastric wall, forming the three sides of a triangle, and the tube was inserted into the center of the triangle. The ends of each suture were pulled directly through the abdominal wall using a laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure needle to join the gastric wall and peritoneum. Both groups showed no significant differences in age, body weight, and external leakage rate. The wound infection rate was significantly lower in the NLP group. In conclusions, the NLP is straightforward and can achieve firm fixation between the stomach and abdominal wall by suturing in the form of a triangle. The NLP was associated with a lower complication rate, especially concerning infection.