Safety of percutaneous radiologically inserted gastrostomy catheter in patients with subcutaneously preserved autologous bone graft in the abdominal wall

Background: Subcutaneous implantation of autologous bone grafts in the abdominal wall is a preservation technique used in patients who require decompressive craniectomy.A serious complication of this procedure is bone flap infection; other complications include localized inflammation and hematoma.We aimed to assess the safety of percutaneous gastrostomy catheter placement in patients with subcutaneously preserved autologous bone grafts.Methods: We included all consecutive patients with subcutaneously preserved autologous bone grafts who underwent gastrostomy catheter insertion between 2012 and 2020.Patient data were collected using a standardized data collection sheet.Data were entered into Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corp.) and transferred to IBM SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp.) for analysis.Results: The study included 17 patients.The majority were male (13; 76%).The age range was 5-65 years, with a mean age of 30.5 ± 15.6 years.All patients underwent successful percutaneous gastrostomy insertion with no intraoperative complications.Cranioplasty was most often performed within 1 month of gastrostomy insertion (6 patients; 35%).During the interval from gastrostomy insertion to cranioplasty or last follow-up, a review of medical records and follow-up imaging identified no complications related to percutaneous gastrostomy catheter use in the presence of autologous bone grafts.Conclusion: In this small cohort, percutaneous radiologically inserted gastrostomy catheters appeared safe in patients with subcutaneously preserved autologous bone grafts in the abdominal wall.No flap infections or other complications were identified.