A novel ballooned-tip percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy tube: a pilot study.

Overview

BACKGROUND: The tip of currently available percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEGJ) tubes frequently migrates back into the stomach. OBJECTIVE: To study the safety of a novel, ballooned-tip, PEGJ tube and assess the risk of retrograde migration into the stomach within 3 weeks of placement. DESIGN: Prospective clinical study (NCT01551095). SETTING: Tertiary-care center. PATIENTS: Seven patients who required post-pyloric feeding were included. INTERVENTION: Placement of PEGJ feeding tubes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Position of the PEGJ, abdominal radiograph findings, adverse events. RESULTS: Seven patients underwent placement of self-propelled PEGJ tubes during the study period. Technical success was achieved in all patients (100%). All procedures were rated as technically simple, and jejunostomy tubes were placed in <5 minutes during all procedures. Abdominal radiographs showed that the jejunostomy tubes were in the jejunum in all 7 patients at both 1 and 3 weeks after tube placement. LIMITATIONS: Small number of patients and short follow-up. CONCLUSION: Ballooned-tip PEGJ feeding tubes were safe and easy to place. The presence of the balloon prevented migration into the stomach. Ballooned-tip PEGJ tubes have the potential to eliminate the need for hospital readmission and repeat endoscopies for retrograde tube migration, and this may result in large systemic cost savings.