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Enteral Feeding Tube
Enteral Feeding Tube
An enteral feeding tube allows a person to receive liquid nutrition through a tube that is placed either in the nose (nasogastric or OGD tubes) or in the stomach or intestines (gastrostomy or GGD tubes). It is usually used as a short-term solution for illness or injury and most people who have this kind of feeding go back to normal eating. There are a range of specially prepared food mixtures (formulas) that your dietitian will choose for you depending on your nutritional needs.
Using an enteral feeding tube requires a lot of care to ensure it works properly. There are a number of things that must be done to help prevent complications like clogging, infection and aspiration.
A tube can be inserted either with an endoscope or through a small cut in the skin. If an endoscope is used, the tube can be positioned very precisely in the correct position. The tube can then be secured to the skin. An endoscope also enables the tube to be repositioned later, if necessary.
The choice of the type of tube and where it is placed will be based on the diagnosis and a medical professional's assessment of your digestive abilities. There are six main types of enteral feeding tube, with subtypes based on where they end in the stomach or intestines.
If you have a nasogastric or orogastric tube, it is important that you keep it clean and do not touch or pull on it to avoid irritation or infection at the tube site. It is important that nursing staff adequately flush the tube before, in between and after medication administration. A prone/supine position increases the risk of aspiration and therefore nursing staff should be vigilant to this.
It is also important to know what sort of medication you are taking and whether it can affect the pH reading of your tube, if you have one. If a medication is known to alter the tube's pH then this should be notified to medical and pharmacy teams.
You will also need to take care of the area around your tube at home, particularly if you have a nasogastric tube as this is more likely to get wet than a gastrostomy or OGD tube. You will need to regularly clean the area, wash your hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitiser before and after working with the tube, and make sure you keep it dry, especially on days when it is not being used for feeding. Your nurse and/or home care nurse will teach you how to do this.
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