A percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a procedure for making an access to the stomach through the abdominal wall. Gastrostomy is any such access, but in PEG it is made using an endoscopy.
The procedure is performed in order to place a gastric feeding tube
as a long-term means of providing nutrition to patients who cannot take food orally. Many stroke patients, for example, are at risk of aspiration pneumonia due to poor control over the swallowing muscles; some will benefit from a PEG performed to maintain nutrition.
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