Safety of Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tubes in Centenarian Patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a relatively safe procedure; however, no study has evaluated the safety of PEG tube placement in patients over the age of 100 years.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patient records for patients who underwent PEG tube placement. Thirty patients aged 100 years and older were identified and a random sample of 275 patients was selected for comparison.

RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 80.6±16.2 years. No procedure-related deaths or major complications were identified; the overall inpatient mortality rate was 7.6%. Minor complications were noted in 4% ( n =12) of the patients. Centenarian patients were predominantly female (80% [ n =24] vs. 54% [ n =147], p =0.006), with a mean age of 100.5±0.9 years. There was no significant difference in procedural success rates (93.3% vs. 97.4%, p =0.222) or inpatient mortality (6.7% [ n =2] vs. 7.7% [ n =21], p =1.000) between the two groups. However, a higher minor complication rate was noted in the older patients (13.3% [ n =4] vs. 2.9% [ n =8], p =0.022).

CONCLUSIONS: Success rates, major complications and inpatient mortality associated with PEG tubes in patients aged over 100 years are comparable to those observed in relatively younger patients at our center; however minor complication rates are relatively higher. These findings lead us to believe that PEG tubes may be safely attempted in carefully selected patients in this subset of the population.