INTRODUCTION: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a common procedure, performed to allow enteral nutrition in patients with various diagnoses causing malnutrition. In this study it was evaluated the effects of pre-procedure serum albumin level on short term complication in patients with dysphagia caused by various disease.
METHODS: From March 2011 to January 2011 patients receiving PEG in the General Surgery Endoscopy Unit were enrolled the study. All patients provided informed written consent. Pre-procedure serum albumin levels of patients were noted and they evaluated for the short complications 14 and 30 day after procedure.
RESULTS: During the study period PEG was performed on 30 consecutive patients. It was observed that the number of female and male patients were equal and the mean age of the patients was 68,07. The most common indications for PEG placement to the patiebts with dysphagia were cerebrovascular disease (n=21), malignacny (n=6) and neurodegenerative disorders (n=3). The mean albumin level was below the 3.0 g/dL at 33% of patients. Early complications ocurred in 3 patients as an exit site infection and in 2 patients dislocation of PEG due to involuntary traction of tube. Post-procedure first day mortality was observed only one patient do related diseases. In the study no significant correlation was observed between the serum albumin level and short term complications.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that although there was no significant correlation between short term complicaitons after PEG placement and serum albumin levels, nutrient management before and during the procedure shpuld be monitored carefully.