National and regional trends in gastrostomy in very low birth weight infants in the USA: 2000–2012

Objectiveto determine rates of gastrostomy (gt) in very low birth weight (vlbw) infants.study designretrospective, cross-sectional analysis of the kids’ inpatient database for the years 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012. we identified vlbw births and infants undergoing a gt, with and without fundoplication, using icd-9-cm codes.resultnational rates (per 1000 vlbw births) of gt increased from 11.5 gt (95% ci 10–13) in 2000 to 22.9 (95% ci 20–25) in 2012 (p < 0.001). gastrostomy with and without fundoplication increased during the study period (p < 0.001 in both groups). vlbw survival also increased from 78.5% in 2000 to 81.1% in 2012 (p < 0.001). in all study years, the northeast census region had the lowest gt rates, while the west had the highest rates in 4 of the 5 study years.conclusionbetween 2000 and 2012, the incidence of gt in vlbw infants doubled, associated with improvements in survival in this population.