Gastrostomy Tubes in Patients With Cerebral Palsy Undergoing Surgery - Usually an Ally, but the Devil Is In the Details Point of View

Abstract

In this issue of JPOSNA, Dr. Shiver et al. review data about the role of an enterostomy feeding tube (gastrostomy/G-tube, jejunostomy/J-tube, or gastro-jejunostomy/G-J tube) in patients with cerebral palsy undergoing spinal surgery for neuromuscular scoliosis.¹ The authors quite rightly comment that spinal surgery in these patients represents a significant intervention that may result in a number of respiratory, gastrointestinal, and infectious complications.  These complications can have a tremendous medical, social, and psychological impact on the patient and the patient’s family, so understanding a particular patient’s risk factors before surgery is an important part of preoperative planning.  As pediatric hospitalists who often co-manage these patients at our institution—including seeing these patients preoperatively with an emphasis on their nutritional status²—we greatly appreciate the opportunity to comment on this paper.