Percutaneous radiological gastrostomy in patients with head and neck cancer

Aim: To evaluate the results of percutaneous radiological gastrostomy in pa tients with head and neck cancer. Patients and methods: This was a retrospective study design. One hundred an d eighteen patients with head and. neck cancer were referred 130 times for gastrostomy tube placement between 1 April 1993 and 17 August 1998. Mean ag e was 60 years. All data were analysed by using the following parameters: s uccess rate, complications and mortality. Complications were divided into m ajor, minor (complication that needed only conservative treatment) and tube -related. Results: The success rate of percutaneous radiological gastrostomy was 97%. Major complications occurred in 6% of patients after gastrostomy tube plac ement. Minor complications occurred in 15% of patients. There was one tube- related complication. Procedure-related mortality occurred in one patient. The results of this study show no difference from those known from the lite rature for the percutaneous method and confirm that radiological gastrostom y has significantly lower rates of major complications than other methods o f gastrostomy placement. Conclusion: Percutaneous radiological gastrostomy tube placement is, in our opinion, an effective and reliable method for placing a feeding tube in pa tients with head and neck cancer. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.