What Is Current Venting Gastrostomy Practice in Patients with Malignant Bowel Obstruction in the UK?

Background/aims: Malignant Bowel Obstruction (MBO) is a serious complication of advanced cancer, occurring in 3-15% of cases. If inoperable, mean survival is 4-5 weeks, and management includes symptom relieving medication and stomach decompression via nasogastric tube (NGT) or venting gastrostomy (VG). While VG appears effective in reducing symptoms, it is associated with complications compared with medical management. There is debate about the role of VG in the management of MBO, however consensus guidelines from EAPC in 2001 suggest that VG is preferable to NGT in the long-term and should be considered in all patients whose symptoms have not responded to pharmacological therapy. Aims: To determine the current practice of VG in the treatment of MBO in the UK, with a focus on two themes: 1. The number of VGs placed, and technical details related to their placement. 2. Current pathways including referral criteria, patient information and training. Methods: An electronic survey was distributed to HCPs who place VG for MBO in the UK. The analyses for the study will be descriptive. Where multiple responses are received from a centre, the mean/average as well as range will be reported. Results: Our study is currently in the data collection phase, but early results suggest a significant variation in VG practice across the UK, without a clear consensus. Conclusions: We will present our data at the conference. Preliminary results show great variation in VG practice. This is an opportunity for the production of consensus guidelines on the role of VG in MBO, so that patients who could be helped by this intervention can receive it.

Citation

Oussena, S., Clark, Y., Mullan, D., Laasch, H.-U., Akyea, R., & Perkins, P. (2024). What is current venting gastrostomy practice in patients with malignant bowel obstruction in the UK? Palliative Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163241242338

DOI

10.1177/02692163241242338

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14709/1189

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