Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tubes May Be Associated With Preservation of Lung Function in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis

Abstract

Background: Improving nutrition status of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has a positive effect on pulmonary function.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective case-control study evaluating the effect of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) placement on body mass index (BMI) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second percent predicted (FEV₁ ) between matched subjects with CF who received PEG (n = 20) and controls who did not (n = 40).

Results: We observed that after adjusting for mutation class and baseline BMI, BMI percentile increased per month for those with PEG (0.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.05-1.08, P = .08), but decreased for those without PEG (-0.03, 95% CI = -0.33-0.28, P = .86); however, the difference (0.54; 95% CI = -0.10-1.18, P = .10) was not statistically significant. FEV₁ change with time showed a decrease for patients with PEG (-0.04; 95% CI = -0.30-0.22, P = .74) and those without PEG (-.22; 95% CI = -0.45-0.01, P = .06). Although the decrease for those without PEG was higher than those with PEG, the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (0.18; 95% CI = -0.17-0.52, P = .32) CONCLUSION: Lung function trajectory showed a trend towards preservation among patients with CF who receive PEG despite lack of significant difference in BMI. There may be a favorable effect of PEG on lung function independent of changes in BMI.

Keywords: cystic fibrosis; enteral nutrition; forced expiratory volume; gastrostomy; respiratory function tests.