A Single-center, Feasibility Study to Evaluate the Use and Safety of the Percutaneous Ultrasound Gastrostomy Technique

Gastrostomy feeding is an established means of delivering adequate nutrition to patients with an inability to meet their metabolic requirements due to inadequate oral intake. Additionally, the gastrostomy tube can be utilized for medication administration in patients unable to otherwise tolerate oral intake. Traditionally, placement of gastrostomy tubes has been performed endoscopically, radiologically or by either laparoscopic or open surgical techniques. More than 200,000 gastrostomy tubes are placed each year in the United States, and that number is expected to increase as the proportion of the population that is elderly grows (Roche et al 2003, Goldberg et al 2005, Lynch et al 2004).

Previous studies have failed to identify a clearly superior technique for placement of feeding tubes (Bravo 2016, Yuan 2016). Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) was first described by Gauderer et al. in 1980 in a case series of 12 children as an alternative to laparotomy in high-risk patients (Gauderer 1980). There is a high overall success rate of PEG placement at 95-100% (Itkin 2011). Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) has become the most common method for placement of a gastrostomy tube. This requires the use of specialized equipment and the availability of physicians specifically trained in this procedure. The number of procedures performed yearly to place feeding tubes is expected to rise as the population ages and as some treatments have resulted in some diseases become chronic states rather than invariably fatal conditions.

Challenges to performance of gastrostomy tube placement include the requirement for specialized equipment, specialized areas designated to have this procedure performed as well as the need for proceduralists who are specifically trained in this technique.

The CoapTech device was developed in an effort to reduce the complicated requirements associated with other techniques of gastrostomy placement so that when clinically indicated the procedure can be performed in a safe and timely manner by a wide range of clinicians with various training backgrounds.

Inclusion criteria

• Written informed consent must be obtained before any study-specific assessment is performed
• Male or female ≥18 years of age
• 20≤ BMI ≤30
• Indication for gastrostomy tube placement determined to be present by the primary clinical care team
• Patient determined to be an appropriate candidate for gastrostomy by the study team
• Women of childbearing potential must have negative serum or urine pregnancy test during the current hospitalization

Exclusion criteria

• BMI > 30, or BMI < 20
• Temperature ≥ 38 C
• Systolic BP < 100 or > 180 mmHg
• Heart Rate < 50 or > 110
• Presence of a contraindication to being in proximity to a magnet (e.g. pacemaker).
• History of prior gastrostomy, gastrectomy (partial or complete), or abdominal trauma or upper-abdominal surgery.
• Patients with hematocrit <25%, or a history of blood transfusion within the 14 days prior to screening, or active life-threatening GI bleeding.
• Pregnant or nursing (lactating) women, where pregnancy is defined as the state of a female after conception and until the termination of gestation, confirmed by a positive hCG laboratory test.
• Involvement in other investigational trials within 30 days prior to screening.
• Any other medical condition(s) that may put the patient at risk or influence study results in the investigator's opinion, or that the investigator deems unsuitable for the study. For example, large or collapsed transverse colon overlapping anterior stomach on pre-existing radiographic scan.
• Anticipated discharge < 36 hours from gastrostomy.