Editing Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (section)

==Removal of PEG tubes==
[[Image:PEG removal.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Endoscopic removal of PEG tube]]

===Indications===
* PEG tube no longer required (recovery of swallow after [[stroke]] or brain trauma, or after surgery or radiotherapy for [[head and neck cancer]])
* Persistent infection of PEG site
* Failure, breakage or deterioration of PEG tube (a new tube can be sited along the existing track)
* "Buried bumper syndrome"

===Techniques===
PEG tubes with rigid, fixed "bumpers" are removed endoscopically. The PEG tube is pushed into the stomach so that part of the tube is visible behind the bumper. An endoscopy snare is then passed through the endoscope, and passed over the bumper so that the tube adjacent to the bumper is grasped. The external part of the tube is then cut, and the tube is withdrawn into the stomach, and then pulled up into the esophagus and removed through the mouth. The PEG site heals without intervention.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

PEG tubes with a collapsible or deflatable bumper can be removed using traction (simply by pulling the PEG tube out through the abdominal wall).