Background and purpose: Because the number of patients who need home healthcare has recently increased in Japan, Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) will soon become more popular. This study aims to examine the effects of enteral alimentation via PEG.
Material and methods: The subjects were 18 patients who underwent PEG instead of receiving total parental nutrition (TPN) (TPN-to-PEG group), 13 patients who underwent PEG instead of receiving enteral nutrition through a naso gastric tube (NG-to-PEG group), and 11 healthy volunteers (control). Morphological changes of the small bowel mucosa and activities of daily life (ADL) after PEG were also investigated.
Results: In the TPN-to-PEG group, the serum level of total protein and albumin, length of duodenal villi, ration of positive proliferative cells, width of duodenal microvilli and ADL markedly increased. In the NG-to-PEG group, body weight and ADL were markedly improved after PEG.
Conclusion: Nutrition via PEG is superior to TPN or enteral nutrition with an NG tube. I conclude that PEG will become the first choice for improving nutrition in patients with dysphasia and will contribute to continuous enteral nutrition for home care.