Systemic antimicrobial prophylaxis for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomies (PEG) maintain nutrition in the short or long term. A PEG is a feeding tube, placed surgically through the anterior abdominal wall, which delivers a liquid diet, or medication, via a clean or sterile delivery system. Those undergoing PEG placement are often vulnerable to infection because of age, compromised nutritional intake, immunosuppression and underlying disease processes such as malignancy and diabetes mellitus. The increasing incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contributes both an additional risk to the placement procedure, and also to the debate surrounding antibiotic prophylaxis for PEG placement. The aim of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis is to establish a bactericidal concentration of an antimicrobial drug in the patients serum and tissues, via a brief course of an appropriate agent, by the time of PEG placement.