Clinical evaluation of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube feeding in Japanese patients with dementia.

Aim: The aim of this study was to clinically evaluate percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube feeding of elderly Japanese patients with dementia.

Method: The records of the 155 patients with dementia who underwent PEG in Juntendo Tokyo Koto Geriatric Medical Center were reviewed for pertinent clinical data, including diagnosis of dementia, place of stay before and after hospitalization, as well as survival rate, albumin levels, and incidence of aspiration pneumonia (AP) before and 6 months after PEG feeding. The latter three data of these patients were compared with those of 106 patients with dementia fed through a nasogastric (NG) tube.