The insertion of oesophagogastric tubes in malignant oesophageal strictures: endoscopy or surgery?

Oesophagogastric tubes were inserted into 16 patients with malignant strictures of the distal oesophagus by a method employing the flexible fibreoptic endoscope, and these patients were compared with 28 patients in the same hospital whose tubes were inserted by surgical methods. Four patients (25 per cent) in the endoscopic group died in the immediate post-insertion period as a result of the procedure, compared with 13 patients (45 per cent) in the surgical group. Of the remainder, the majority were mobilized and taking diet on the day following the procedure, and the morbidity associated with the surgical method was not seen in the endoscopic group. It is concluded that the endoscopic insertion of oesophagogastric tubes has advantages over surgical insertion in the palliation of malignant oesophageal strictures.