Rare complication of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy: Ostomy metastasis of esophageal carcinoma

The authors present the case of a 55-year-old male with a stage Ⅲ(T4N1M0) squamous-cell esophageal carcinoma, who underwent percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy(PEG). The pull method of tube placement was used. Five months after the procedure, the patient was referred to the hospital with a hard palpable tumour at the ostomy site. The hystologic exam revealed an abdominal wall metastasis of the esophageal cancer. The authors present this case because of the rarity of metastasis in ostomy after placement of PEG in patients with tumours located in the head and neck. In this particular context and judging by the rarity of situation, the clinical impact of this phenomenom is limited. Nevertheless, metastasis in ostomy site could be prevented by the push method, laparoscopy or laparotomy.