ReviewThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2023
Enteral tube feeding for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease.
Review in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enteral Nutrition in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease and Atypical Parkinsonism: A Systematic Review.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2026Pooled it
- The Application and Mechanism Analysis of Enteral Nutrition in Clinical Management of Chronic Diseases.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Immunomodulatory Effects of Acupuncture on Inflammatory Markers in Patients with Musculoskeletal Pain: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Perspective and quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients undergoing percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Review
- Impact of weight loss and disease progression on survival in ALS: insights from a multidisciplinary care center.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2025Article
- Blueprint of Collapse: Precision Biomarkers, Molecular Cascades, and the Engineered Decline of Fast-Progressing ALS.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- High-performance automated abstract screening with large language model ensembles.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025Article
- Narrative review of diagnosis, management and treatment of dysphagia and sialorrhea in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2024Review
- Practical recommendations for swallowing and speaking during NIV in people with neuromuscular disorders.Acta myologica : myopathies and cardiomyopathies : official journal of the Mediterranean Society of Myology · 2024Review
- Supporting people with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) to make decisions about gastrostomy feeding tube placement: a survey of UK healthcare professionals' practice and beliefs.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis & frontotemporal degeneration · 2024Article
- Timing and impact of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy insertion in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a comprehensive analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMaintaining adequate nutrition is critical for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND). Enteral tube feeding is offered to people experiencing difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) to prevent weight loss and aspiration pneumonia. Among the types of enteral tube feeding, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is the typical procedure offered to people with ALS and will be mainly discussed here.
objectivesTo examine the effectiveness of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy or other enteral tube feeding in people with ALS, compared to oral feeds without enteral tube feeding on: 1. survival; 2. nutritional status; 3. quality of life. To examine the incidence of minor and major complications of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) and other enteral tube feeding procedures in people with ALS. SEARCH
methodsOn 3 January 2020 and 6 February 2021, we searched the Cochrane Neuromuscular Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE. Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO ICTRP. We screened the results to identify randomized controlled studies on enteral tube feeding in ALS. We reviewed all references from the search in published articles to identify any additional references. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-RCTs, and cross-over trials evaluating the effectiveness and complications of PEG or other enteral tube feeding placement in ALS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. MAIN
resultsWe found no RCTs or quasi-RCTs comparing the effectiveness of enteral tube feeding versus oral feeds without enteral tube feeding. AUTHORS'
conclusionsThere are no RCTs or quasi-RCTs to indicate whether enteral tube feeding is effective compared to continuation of oral feeding for any of the outcome measures. Such RCTs are very unlikely to be performed for ethical reasons. RCTs evaluating the effect of different enteral tube insertion techniques and timings of tube placement on survival and quality of life of people with ALS dysphagia are feasible and warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.