Preprocedural control of nutritional status score and prediction of early death after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is often associated with early mortality. We therefore investigated factors associated with early death after PEG. METHODS: The present study comprised patients who had undergone PEG between April 2014 and March 2020. Patients were divided into two groups: an early mortality group who died within 1 month of PEG, and a non‐mortality group whose clinical course could be followed for more than 1 month after the procedure. Patient background, hematological data, and procedural duration were compared between groups. RESULTS: Univariate analysis identified older age, high blood urea nitrogen (BUN), low prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and high controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score as factors associated with early death after PEG. In multivariate analysis, high CONUT score remained an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.0035). CONCLUSION: A high CONUT score may be a prognostic factor for early mortality after PEG.