Clinical study of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy for long-term enteral nutrition in patients with cancers of head and neck / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) for long-term enteral nutrition in patients with cancers of head and neck. Methods PEGs were performed for 12 patients with head and neck cancers, the indication for which included serious buccal mucositis, difficulty in swallowing, anorexia, and obstruction of the digestive tract. Before PEG and 8 weeks after PEG, serum concentrations of total protein and albumin of the patients were measured, body composition including body weight, free fat mass, and fat mass were measured by bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA), and Karnofsky performance score ( KPS) was evaluated. Results After enteral nutrition for 8 weeks through PEG, the serum concentrations of total protein and albumin of the patients increased significantly (63.8?0.3g/L vs 57.4?0.2g/L, P