21Background 22 The long-term outcomes of artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) in the elderly with 23 dysphagia remain uncertain. Enteral nutrition via percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy 24 (PEG) and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) are major methods of ANH. Although both 25 can be a life-prolonging treatments, Japan has recently come to view PEG as 26 representative of unnecessary life-prolonging treatment. Consequently, TPN is often 27 chosen for ANH instead. This study aimed to compare the long-term outcomes between 28 PEG and TPN in the elderly. 29 Methods 30This single-center retrospective cohort study identified 253 elderly patients with 31 dysphagia who received enteral nutrition via PEG (n=180) or TPN (n=73) between 32 January 2014 and January 2017. The primary outcome was survival time. Secondary 33 outcomes were oral intake recovery, discharge to home, and the incidence of severe 34 pneumonia and sepsis. We performed one-to-one propensity score matching using a 0.05 35 caliper. The Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards model 36 were used to analyze the survival time between groups.
37
Results
38Older patients with lower nutritional states, and severe dementia were more likely to 39 receive TPN. Propensity score matching created 55 pairs. Survival time was significantly 40 longer in the PEG group (median, 317 vs 195 days; P=0.017). The hazard ratio for PEG 41 relative to TPN was 0.60 (95% confidence interval: 0.39-0.92; P=0.019). There were no 42 significant differences between the groups in oral intake recovery and discharge to home.
43The incidence of severe pneumonia was significantly higher in the PEG group (50.9% vs 44 25.5%, P=0.010), whereas sepsis was significantly higher in the TPN group (10.9% vs 45 30.9%, P=0.018).
46
Conclusions
47PEG was associated with a significantly longer survival time, a higher incidence of 48 severe pneumonia, and a lower incidence of sepsis compared with TPN. These results can 49 be used in the decision-making process before initiating ANH. 50 51 4 56 developed as an enteral feeding technique for pediatric patients with dysphagia [1,2].
57Compared to feeding via a nasogastric tube, enteral feeding via PEG can relieve 58 laryngopharyngeal discomfort and prevent intervention failure; therefore, its use has 59 become widespread for long-term enteral feeding in multiple patient groups including 60 pediatric and geriatric populations [3]. However, studies have reported worse outcomes 61 following PEG feeding in patients with dementia [4,5]; therefore, the use of PEG in 62 elderly populations is controversial [6,7].
63TPN is another common method of nutritional management [8,9]. Similar to tube 64 feeding, TPN is also occasionally used for ANH in elderly patients with dysphagia [10]. 65 Comparing the outcomes of enteral nutrition and parenteral nutrition are major concerns 66 among clinicians. Previous studies have demonstrated conflicting results among patients 67 who received enteral nutrition versus those who received parenteral nutr...