Reducing outpatient gastrostomy tube complications.

Objective: To monitor the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary education protocol for gastrostomy tube (GT) use and care for patients to reduce complications postplacement.

Methods: Baseline assessment included a preintervention/intervention design through quantitative measures to determine reduction in the number of GT complications postprocedure following implementation of a patient education protocol for 16 patients in the study.

Intervention: A multidisciplinary approach was used in protocol development for standardizing patient education.