Gastrostomy: a simple and effective technique

To provide a comfortable and effective method for gastrointestinal decompression of feeding, we developed an alternate technique for gastrostomy. Under local or general anesthesia a No. 18 red rubber catheter with multiple openings cut into the distal 8 to 10 cm is passed through a stab wound in the antrum of the stomach and directed cephalad to a point 5 cm from the wall of the fundus. The stomach wall is closed around the tube by the Stamm technique, and the tube is then passed through an adjacent stab wound in the abdominal wall. The gastric serosa is sutured to the peritoneum, and the tube is immobilized by a nonabsorbable suture through the skin and tied around the tube. In our series, 1,072 patients had gastrostomy done by this technique either for postoperative decompression (965) or feeding (107). Fifteen complications occurred in procedures done for decompression and three in those done for feeding. The complications did not alter the surgical result or the hospital stay.