RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Gastrostomy and congenital anomalies: a European population-based study
JF BMJ Paediatrics Open
JO BMJ Paediatrics Open
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e001526
DO 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001526
VO 6
IS 1
A1 Ester Garne
A1 Joachim Tan
A1 Maria Loane
A1 Silvia Baldacci
A1 Elisa Ballardini
A1 Joanne Brigden
A1 Clara Cavero-Carbonell
A1 Laura García-Villodre
A1 Mika Gissler
A1 Joanne Given
A1 Anna Heino
A1 Sue Jordan
A1 Elizabeth Limb
A1 Amanda Julie Neville
A1 Anke Rissmann
A1 Michele Santoro
A1 leuan Scanlon
A1 Stine Kjaer Urhoj
A1 Diana G Wellesley
A1 Joan Morris
YR 2022
UL http://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/6/1/e001526.abstract
AB Objective To report and compare the proportion of children with and without congenital anomalies undergoing gastrostomy for tube feeding in their first 5 years.Methods A European, population-based data-linkage cohort study (EUROlinkCAT). Children up to 5 years of age registered in nine EUROCAT registries (national and regional) in six countries and children without congenital anomalies (reference children) living in the same geographical areas were included. Data on hospitalisation and surgical procedures for all children were obtained by electronic linkage to hospital databases.Results The study included 91 504 EUROCAT children and 1 960 272 reference children. Overall, 1200 (1.3%, 95% CI 1.2% to 1.6%) EUROCAT children and 374 (0.016%, 95% CI 0.009% to 0.026%) reference children had a surgical code for gastrostomy within the first 5 years of life. There were geographical variations across Europe with higher rates in Northern Europe compared with Southern Europe. Around one in four children with Cornelia de Lange syndrome and Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome had a gastrostomy. Among children with structural anomalies, those with oesophageal atresia had the highest proportion of gastrostomy (15.9%).Conclusions This study including almost 2 million reference children in Europe found that only 0.016% of these children had a surgery code for gastrostomy before age 5 years. The children with congenital anomalies were on average 80 times more likely to need a gastrostomy before age 5 years than children without congenital anomalies. More than two-thirds of gastrostomy procedures performed within the first 5 years of life were in children with congenital anomalies.Data are available on request.