Survival Following Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy in Neurology Intensive Care Unit Patients

Abstract

Background: We aimed to determine factors affecting mortality and survival after Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in patients who were hospitalized in the neurology intensive care unit during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic Materials and Methods: The clinical and demographic data of 29 patients aged 18 years and older who received PEG tube insertion during hospitalization in the Neurology Intensive Care Unit of XXX Hospital, Turkey, between February 2020 and May 2021 were examined retrospectively. Patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, and survival status were recorded. Results: We included 29 patients (16 females and 13 males) into our study. Median age was 71 (33–89) years among survivors and 75.5 (48–90) years among those who died. The groups were similar with respect to age (p = 0.119) and sex (p = 0.806). Mortality rate after PEG insertion was 66%. Mean overall survival after PEG tube insertion was 129.49 days (95% CI: 91.21–167.78). Cox regression revealed that having multiple comorbidities increased the likelihood of mortality by 2.822-fold (95% CI: 1.001–7.968, p = 0.049). Conclusions: These findings show that having multiple comorbidities was the most important factor associated with mortality among PEG recipients who were admitted to the Neurology Intensive Care Unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since multiple comorbidities cause shorter survival, it appears that the decision to insert PEG tubes must be made extremely cautiously among these patients. However, more comprehensive studies should be conducted to clarify the effect of COVID-19 on mortality rates and survival time after PEG.