Background: Malnutrition associated with chronic cholestasis in children often requires continuous enteral feeding through a nasogastric tube, which may be poorly tolerated.
Method: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy was performed in five children (age range, 20 months to 13 years) with severe cholestasis (Alagille syndrome in four; biliary atresia in one) and severe malnutrition (mean weight, -2.6 standard deviations; mean height, -2.7 standard deviations) who were awaiting liver transplantation. The pull-through technique was used in patients under general anesthesia, and the button was set within 2 months.
Results: Minor wound infection required antibiotic therapy in one patient. In the four children with Alagille syndrome, enteral feeding by means of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy was used until liver transplantation for a mean period of 14 months with a mean weight gain of 350 g/mo and a mean height gain of 0.53 cm/mo. Seventeen months to 3 years, 3 months after liver transplantation, all four children were alive and in good clinical condition with normal readings in liver function tests. The technique had to be discontinued in the child with biliary atresia because of secondary occurrence of ascites, gastric intolerance, and refractory wound infection.
Conclusion: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy may be a valuable alternative to nasogastric tube for nutritional support in children with cholestasis and mild portal hypertension.