PEG placement is a safe procedure and well-tolerated with a low mortality and complication rate even in older patients who have multiple co-morbidities under adequate precautions.

N-acetyl cystein did not increase, and actually decreased, the sensitivity and specificity of the Helicobacter pylori stool antigen test according to our results. We believe that this finding can be taken into consideration when setting up the exclusion criteria for future studies, which will use Helicobacter pylori stool antigen tests.