RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Long Term Efficacy of Gastrostomy Feeding in Children with Cystic Fibrosis on Anthropometric Markers of Nutritonal Status and Pulmonary Function
Helen Truby1 , *, Patricia Cowlishaw2, Catherine O Neil3, Claire Wainwright4
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2009Volume: 3
First Page: 112
Last Page: 115
Publisher ID: TORMJ-3-112
DOI: 10.2174/1874306400903010112
Article History:
Received Date: 6/4/2009Revision Received Date: 22/4/2009
Acceptance Date: 19/7/2009
Electronic publication date: 4/9/2009
Collection year: 2009

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The clinical outcomes from 14 children (7 male) with cystic fibrosis (CF) who had a gastrostomy tube inserted between January 1999 and August 2005 are presented. The mean age of gastrostomy insertion was 6.63 years. All patients had pancreatic insufficiency with mildly compromised lung function (mean FEV1 71%). Data was collected for 1 year prior and 2 years post commencement of gastrostomy feeding. Subjects experienced a significant decline in both weight and height for the 12 months prior to enteral feeding. There was a significant improvement in some anthropometric parameters but not respiratory function in the first 12 months of feeding which then plateau during the second year. These results also highlight the benefit of using height and weight Z scores rather than the measuring of the BMI as an indicator of nutritional change in children with CF.