Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

Accessing the stomach via a gastrostomy is the preferred method for providing enteral nutritional support when supplementation is required for more than three or four weeks. Since its introduction in the early 1980s, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy has become the most popular method for creating a gastrostomy. It is a quick and cost-effective method and has supplanted open gastrostomy for the establishment of a gastrocutaneous fistula to provide access to the stomach for numerous indications. It is associated, however, with serious and potentially lethal complications which must be completely understood by the endoscopist. In addition, patient selection and thorough attention to details are paramount to the performance of a safe percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.