Not personal experience, but my girlfriend. She had a PEG tube and when they removed it, the surgeon just yanked it out. She said it hurt every bit as much as she thought it would. She had accidentaly pulled on it a couple of times. We asked if they should knock her out or anything and he said nope, and pulled it out. Was sore for a couple of days and the hole healed up in like three. As for infection, i would supppose it would show up around the tube and be consistent with an open wound infection. Just make sure to clean it on a regular basis with saline and keep any dressing changed and clean as well.