Gastrostomy refers to a surgical opening into the stomach. Creation of an artificial external opening into the stomach for nutritional support or gastrointestinal compression.
Typically this would include an incision in the patient's epigastrium

Epigastrium

The epigastrium is the upper central region of the abdomen. It is located between the costal margins and the subcostal plane....

 as part of a formal operation. It can be performed through surgical approach, percutaneous

Percutaneous

In surgery, percutaneous pertains to any medical procedure where access to inner organs or other tissue is done via needle-puncture of the skin, rather than by using an "open" approach where inner organs or tissue are exposed .The percutaneous approach is commonly used in vascular procedures...

 approach by interventional radiology

Interventional radiology

Interventional radiology is a specialty of radiology, in which image-guided procedures are used to diagnose and treat a multitude of diseases across all body systems...

, or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is an endoscopic medical procedure in which a tube is passed into a patient's stomach through the abdominal wall, most commonly to provide a means of feeding when oral intake is not adequate. The procedure is an alternative to surgical gastrostomy insertion, and...

 (PEG).

The opening may be used for feeding, such as with a gastrostomy tube

Feeding tube

A feeding tube is a medical device used to provide nutrition to patients who cannot obtain nutrition by swallowing. The state of being fed by a feeding tube is called gavage, enteral feeding or tube feeding...

.

External links

• Gastrostomy, Permanent and Temporary