Parental satisfaction and long term standardized outcome evaluation after percutaneous endoscopic vs laparoscopic gastrostomy in children.

Introduction: Percutaneous endoscopic (PEG) and laparoscopic gastrostomy (LG) are two widely used techniques for gastrostomy placement in infants. We aimed to compare the risk of complications using a validated grading system and parent satisfaction.

Methods: Infants undergoing gastrostomy placement in a tertiary referral center were retrospectively included. Local and general complications were graded using the Clavien-Dindo (CD)system and categorized as early (≤ 30 days) vs late (>30 days) postoperatively. Parent satisfaction was evaluated prospectively using a questionnaire (Numeric Rating Scale 0- 10).

Results: Out of 102 patients, 52 underwent LG and 50 PEG. General complications (CD IIIa, IIIb and IV) were rare and occurred all late (n = 3), local complications were common: twice as much minor local early complications occurred in the LG cohort, however this was not statistically significant (28.8% vs 14.0%; p = 0.092). There was a trend toward more major local late CD IIIb complications in the PEG group, but this was not statistically significant (20.4% vs 8.0%; p = 0.088). After button removal, there was a higher risk of gastrocutaneous fistula requiring surgical closure after LG (53.1% vs 26.7% after PEG; p = 0.003). Parental satisfaction was high in both groups (mean score 8.3 for PEG vs 7.9 for LG; p = 0.341).

Conclusion: While the risk of general complications after gastrostomy placement is low, local complications are common. However not significant, PEG was associated with a higher risk of major long-term local complications, while LG required more surgical closures after button removal. Parental satisfaction was high in both groups. Further prospective comparisons are needed.