RADIOLOGICAL PERCUTANEOUS GASTROSTOMY PLACEMENT FOR ENTERAL FEEDING

Many patients who are unable to swallow have normal intestinal absorpt ion and therefore do not need expensive and potentially problematic pa renteral nutrition. Long term nasogastric tubes are unpleasant and int erfere with communications, thus a gastrostomy is often felt to be app ropriate. Traditionally this has been inserted at laparotomy but recen tly, other less invasive techniques of insertion such as endoscopy hav e been used for placement. We describe three patients where a percutan eous gastrostomy was placed by a radiological technique that we feel d eserves wider recognition. It is quicker, cheaper and more versatile t han the endoscopic method and avoids the unpleasant necessity for intu bation by other than a fine-bore nasogastric tube.