Aims
To analyze the survival of patients undergoing PEG in a tertiary care center.
to perform a specific sub-analysis of those patients with a survival of 60 days or less
Methods
Retrospective observational study of patients undergoing PEG between January 2015 and June 2025. Demographic, clinical, and endoscopic variables were collected. Subgroup analysis was performed for survival, indications, and mortality at 30 and 60 days.
Results
A total of n=322 patients were included (mean age: 61 years; 75.8% male). Mean survival was 419 days (median: 164; range: 1–2662). A total of 9.9% died within the first 30 days and 14.6% within the first 60 days after PEG.
Main indications in the group with survival ≤30 days were: neoplasia (40.6%), anoxic encephalopathy (18.8%), traumatic brain injury (15.6%), and ALS (9.4%). Causes of death: tumor progression (21.9%), severe encephalopathy (21.9%), respiratory failure (18.8%), hemoptysis (9.4%), and sepsis (9.4%). In 90.6% of cases, death was not related to the procedure; 6.2% were probably related, and 3.1% directly related (1 colonic perforation).
A total of 149 PEG requests were cancelled: medical contraindication (36.2%), referral to primary care (28.2%), prior death (24.2%), and voluntary decision (10.7%).
CAD patients (n=56, 17.0%) showed significantly lower survival (mean 151 days; median 49) vs HCC patients (n=89, 27.0%) (p = 0.010). This difference did not remain in the subgroup with ≤90-day survival (p = 0.73).
Conclusions
• A substantial proportion of patients die within the first 30 and 60 days after PEG. • The indication should consider complexity profile (HCC/CAD) and expected nutritional benefit. • A rigorous and multidisciplinary patient selection is required when indicating PEG, especially in contexts of high clinical frailty.