Efficacy of Gastrostomy Tube Coated With Povidone-iodine for Reducing Peristomal Infection Rate After PEG Insertion

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), or placement of a gastrostomy tube with the aid of an endoscope, was first reported by a pediatrist in 1980. It was created to replace surgical gastrostomy and used widely in patients who are needed long-term tube feeding. There are three kinds of PEG techniques, including pull method, push method and introducer method. Among them, pull method is the most widely accepted technique due to its simplicity of insertion.

PEG has less severe complication rate or mortality rate compared with traditional surgical gastrostomy. However, there are still some mild complications which cannot be completely prevented and peristomal infection is the most common one. The major cause of peristomal infection is that oropharyngeal bacteria colonized gastrostomy feeding tube while undergoing PEG placement with pull method or push method, then bacteria was brought to the stoma via gastrostomy feeding tube and induced peristomal infection.

Povidone-iodine (PVP-I) is a stable chemical complex of polyvinylpyrrolidone (povidone, PVP) and iodine. It exhibits broad range of microbicidal activity via increasing the solubility of iodine. A retrospective study in Japan demonstrated that using Povidone-iodine gargling solution before PEG technique reduced peristomal infection rate. Besides, many studies demonstrated that gingival degerming by Povidone-iodine irrigation prior to extraction or gingivectomy reduced the oral bacterial colonies and postoperative infection rate.

The investigators will use Betadine (10% Povidone iodine) as experimental drug. The gastrostomy feeding tube will be coated with a layer of Betadine by aseptic gauze before PEG technique. Investigators expect that gastrostomy feeding tube coated with Betadine will reduce the oropharyngeal, esophageal and gastric bacteria colonization rate, followed by reducing peristomal infection rate.