Early experience with the Bower percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube.

Percutaneous endoscopic insertion of gastrostomy tubes is a technique becoming more widely used in the UK. It allows insertion of a gastrostomy tube without laparotomy, under local anaesthesia and sedation, and so operative insertion may eventually become a rarity. We report on our successful early experience with a new gastrostomy tube (Bower PEG) which does not require endoscopy if eventual removal is required, and describe the methods of insertion and removal.