Pediatric Laparoscopic Gastrostomy

Luis I. Ruffolo, MD; Derek S. Wakeman, MD, FACS, FAAP

Product Details
Product ID: ACS-5901
Year Produced: 2019
Length: 6 min.


Gastrostomy tube placement for assistance with enteral nutrition is the third most frequent non-cardiac, inpatient pediatric procedure performed in the United States. Over the years a number of variant techniques have emerged including open "Stamm" gastrostomy, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), laparoscopic assisted PEG, and laparoscopic gastrostomy. Here we present our technique for laparoscopic gastrostomy insertion in infants and children. This technique is a modification of one popularized by Dr. Keith Georgeson. Laparoscopic assisted gastrostomy has been demonstrated to be safer compared to PEG, as infrequently, but devastatingly, adjacent viscera may be transilluminated in the latter technique resulting in hollow viscus injury. The laparoscopic technique has thus the advantages of direct visualization of the stomach and adjacent abdominal viscera during gastrostomy placement and suture gastropexy, which better secures the stomach to the abdominal wall in case of accidental dislodgement. While this technique was artfully designed over 25 years ago, to our knowledge, a publicly available video does not exist. We hope this video will aid surgical trainees and others wishing to learn the technique. A few pearls are included to improve quality and safety of laparoscopic gastrostomy insertion.