Long-term outcomes of direct percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy: a 10-year cohort

Study aim: To assess the clinical outcomes of patients who received direct percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (DPEJ) for enteral feeding.

Materials and methods: This is a 10-year cohort study in a single tertiary center. Main outcome measurements were technical success, and short- and long-term outcomes. DPEJ was attempted in 83 patients (51 men; 55 ± 2 years) for dysphagia (n = 35), gastroparesis with recurrent aspiration (n = 30), and levodopa drug infusion for severe Parkinson’s disease (n = 18).

Results: DPEJ was successful in 75 (90 %) patients. All technical failures were related to the inability to find adequate trans-illumination, and were not influenced by BMI, age, gender, or indication. Peri-operative (30-day) adverse events occurred in 11 (13 %) patients, including wound infection (3), leakage around the stoma (4), minor bleeding requiring no intervention (2), and aspiration (1). There was one case (1.2 %) of gastric perforation after PEJ insertion for levodopa drug infusion trial. This 60-year-old woman required an emergency laparotomy with nil complications, and levodopa drug infusion recommenced successfully. One case of intestinal perforation (1.2 %) occurred after jejunostomy tube replacement at 6 months of insertion, which was successfully managed with surgery. There were no peri-operative deaths. Adequate delivery of enteral feeding or Duodopa drug was achieved in 66/73 (90 %) patients, with evidence of weight gain or improvement in Parkinson’s disease. Seven (8 %) continued to have clinical regurgitation but not aspiration. After a median follow-up of 84 months, 27 (33 %) patients died of their underlying diseases. Seven (8 %) had marked improvement in their underlying disease and had PEJ removed after 5 months (range 1 – 8 months).

Limitations: Single center study.

Conclusions: DPEJ is associated with a high technical success rate (90 %), a relatively low rate of peri-operative adverse events (13 %) and an improvement in long-term nutritional support in the majority of patients (90 %). DPEJ should be the procedure of choice to gain enteral access for feeding or drug delivery prior to considering surgery.

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