The pope’s doctors are considering an operation to insert a tube into his stomach so he can be fed without having to swallow.
If the procedure is performed, John Paul II would receive nutrition the same way Terri Schiavo did before her feeding tube was removed.
The operation, called a PEG for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, would overcome problems in swallowing that result from the pope’s suffering from Parkinson’s disease, an Italian news agency reported.
Surgeons first slide a probe called an endoscope down the esophagus and into the stomach, said Dr. Steven Herman, a thoracic surgeon at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn.
Using the endoscope to guide them, the doctors make a small cut on the abdomen and into the stomach.
A catheter with a balloon on the end of it is inserted through the cut and sutured to the skin.
Herman said difficulty in swallowing is a side effect of Parkinson’s and food may be going down his windpipe and into his lungs.
This runs the risk of causing pneumonia, he said.
The operation was developed in 1979 and 200,000 are performed annually in the United States alone.
“It’s the standard of care for patients who need feeding assistance,” Herman said. “It’s relatively easy. It’s relatively quick – less than a hour. It has low risk and high benefits.”
If carried out, the PEG would mean that the pontiff – who turns 85 in May – would breathe and be fed with the aid of tubes.
There was no official comment from the Vatican.
The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital twice last month for breathing problems brought on by the flu.
On Feb. 24, a tracheotomy tube was inserted in his throat.
Italian newspapers reported that the pope may return to Gemelli for tests on the tube.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper said that the new hospital stay would probably take place next week. The pope’s condition was “perhaps less encouraging than the Vatican would like to admit,” it said.
The newspaper said the return to the hospital would enable doctors to deal with “feeding problems.”
La Repubblica newspaper said that there were unconfirmed reports that the pontiff had suffered a mild stroke recently.
Renato Buzzonetti, the pope’s personal doctor, said that he was “reasonably calm” about the pope’s condition.
The pope was unable to preside at Holy Week events for the first time in his 26-year tenure. He alarmed the faithful on Easter Sunday by being unable to utter the Latin “Urbi et Orbi” blessing.
One expert said that he doubted that the pope would speak again.
Stefano Ruggiero, professor of neurology at Rome University, said: “He has extraordinary physical robustness and an iron will, but he simply does not have the strength left in his vocal chords.”
With Post Wire Services
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The Pontiff’s health woes
Feb. 1: The pope begins a nineday stay at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for breathing problems brought on the by flu.
Feb. 10: The pope leaves the hospital.
Feb. 24: The pontiffis hospitalized atGemelli again for arecurrence of the flu and undergoes a tracheotomy to help
air flow more freely into his lungs.
March 13: The pope is released from the hospital after speakingto pilgrims in a raspy voice.
The operation
* The procedure is called a PEG, for percutan eousendoscopic gastrostomy.
* Doctors first slide ascope down the throatand into the stomach.
* Using the scope toguide them, theymake an incision through abdomeninto the stomach.
* A feeding tube isinserted throughthe abdomen intothe stomach.