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Abstract
Purpose: To compare outcome and associated complications of ballon- vs. loop-retained devices for radiologically inserted gastrostomy (RIG).
Methods: From 2007 to 2011 233 patients (age 63.7 ± 10.6 years) were referred for a RIG because of pharyngeal stricture Intervention was performed with four different devices: balloon-retained – Freka® GastroTube, Fresenius Kabi (n = 121); MIC® Gastrostomy Feeding Tube, Kimberly–Clark (n = 34); Russell® Gastrostomy Tray, Cook Medical Inc. (n = 17); and loop-retained – Tilma® Gastrostomy Set, Cook Medical Inc. (n = 50). Follow-up was performed with regard to RIG-related complications, cause of removal and fatalities. Revision-free survival times after RIG were evaluated using Kaplan–Meier analysis and group differences by log-rank tests. For analysis of demographic and methodical variables multivariate Cox regression models were used.
Results: With a primary technical success rate of 95.3% (222/233) a total of 92 instances of revisions were necessary in 66 patients (66/233, 28.3%) during follow-up (mean 182.8 ± 86.6 days). The most common complication was tube dislodgement (14.3%). There were no significant differences between the distinct devices (p = 0.098), but analyzing the data in subgroups of balloon-compared to loop-retained gastrostomy tubes we observed a significantly higher probability of minor complications for the latter (p = 0.023).
Conclusion: As it is significantly less prone to minor complications we recommend the use of balloon-retained gastrostomy tubes to improve the practicability and maintenance of RIG.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.