Broekaert I.: Gastrostomies and Jejunostomies
Well, would you look at that! Here’s another friend of ESPGHAN podcasting coming by to see what we have for listeners today. Welcome, and settle in for a session with a real mover and shaker, Dr Ilse Broekaert, who oversees ESPGHAN’s educational activities, and who has led efforts to introduce Europe-wide certification in paediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition – more about this, however, at the site linked below.
Dr Broekaert, or Ilse – the better to avoid umlaut confusion, which plays hob with attempts to pronounce her surname – works in Cologne, or Köln (no getting away from umlauts, is there?), where she settled in after earning her medical degree in Bochum. One might expect that she devoted herself early to gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition, and indeed that was the case, but... like Mae West and the snow, she drifted, wandering off into allergology and pulmonology, adding to her board certification in gastroenterology another certification yet. Glancing through her list of publications leaves one rather at a loss: she’s made contributions across the board, it seems. To what is she devoting herself now?
Lucky, then, that Ilse has asked that this chat centre on three publications, titled “The use of jejunal tube feeding in children: A position paper by the gastroenterology and nutrition committees of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition 2019”, “Safety of the one step percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (push-PEG) button in pediatric patients”, and “Retrospective study on safety and complications of direct percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in children below 10 kg”, a great help in focussing the interview! Keep listening to learn how attitudes and approaches to tube feeding and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy placement have evolved in the past decade, the present clinical and parental environment for feeding by this route, and, of course, what can go wrong – and how to make sure that it doesn’t.
Literature
Broekaert IJ et al. The use of jejunal tube feeding in children: A position paper by the gastroenterology and nutrition committees of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition 2019. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2019 Aug;69(2):239–258. Doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000002379. PMID: 31169666
Brinkmann J et al. Safety of the one step percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (push-PEG) button in pediatric patients. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2023 Dec 1;77(6):828–834. Doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000003930. Epub 2023 Aug 23. PMID: 37608440. PMCID: PMC10642703
Broekaert IJ, Hünseler C. Retrospective study on safety and complications of direct percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy in children below 10 kg. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2025 Aug;81(2):417–420. Doi: 10.1002/jpn3.70085. Epub 2025 May 22. PMID: 40401400. PMCID: PMC12314583
Link, sub-specialty certification
https://www.espghan.org/knowledge-center/education/ESPGHAN_European-PGHN-Exam
Dr. Broekaert´s favourite song: Jesu, Joy of Man´s Desiring
ESPGHAN favourite Songs can be found on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YIHKjxITLEm9XNyHyypTo