Does gastrostomy improve the lives of children with severe disability and their families?

澳大利亚每年约有750名新生儿患有严重智力残疾。问题可能包括进食困难和频繁住院。可以通过胃造口术管将食物喂入胃中。我们将在新南威尔士州和华盛顿州进行数据链接研究，并在华盛顿州收集更多数据，以调查胃造口术的使用模式及其安全性，有效性和成本。我们的研究结果将有助于管理喂养不良的智力残疾。

Around 750 Australian children are born each year with severe intellectual disability. Problems may include feeding difficulties and frequent hospitalisations. Feeding via a gastrostomy tube into the stomach can be used. We will conduct a data linkage study in NSW and WA, and collect additional data in WA to investigate patterns of gastrostomy use and its safety, effectiveness and costs. Our findings will help the management of poor feeding in intellectual disability.