Dwell time and functional failure in percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes: a prospective randomized-controlled comparison between silicon polymer and polyurethane percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes

Summary Background : Silicone percutaneous endoscopic gastros-tomy (PEG) tubes are associated with more short-term complications and possibly fail sooner than those made of polyurethane. Understanding the deterioration and long-term complications leading to tube failure has important clinical and cost implications. Aim : To compare dwell time and patterns of failure ofsilicone polymer and polyurethane PEG tubes. Methods : Participants randomized to receive a siliconepolymer (n = 76) or polyurethane (n = 62) PEG werevisited monthly for 540 days, until death or tube removal. Tube and exit site characteristics and reasons for removal were recorded. Results : Tube failure occurred in 25% of silicone PEGs and 12.9% of polyurethane PEGs. Mean tube survival for silicone PEGs was 377.2 days (CI: 326–428) and for polyurethane 436.8 days (CI: 383–490; P = 0.13). A greater proportion of silicone PEGs developed intralumenal colonization and altered tube integrity than polyurethane (P