Abstract

The gastrostomy is a procedure that aims to ensure a feeding pathway for patients who are unable to maintain adequate long term oral intake. Currently there are described the classical open technique and minimally invasive techniques, such as percutaneous endoscopic and percutaneous fluoroscopic gastrostomy, each one with its profile of indications and complications. Here we present a retrospective, nonrandomized review of medical records of 151 patients who underwent open gastrostomy, the surgical complications resulting from the procedure (29.1%), the need of visits to the emergency care unit (53.6%), hospital readmissions (16.5%) and deaths (1.5%) in the period of 2011 to 2015. Despite the high frequency of complications of the classical technique and the development of minimally invasive techniques, open gastrostomy continues to have its indications according to the patient's clinical conditions and resources of the health service.

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