Tube Feeding

WHAT IS TUBE FEEDING?

Patients come to the food balance because of our experience in delivering a standardized approach in delivering tube feeding consultancy to people who are very sick.

If you or your family member is facing difficulty with eating and feeding tube has been placed. Enteral Nutrition provides a means for meeting your body’s nutrition needs. There are many conditions where you may need this, especially if:

• You have been diagnosed with dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing)
• You have been experiencing weight loss and you find it difficult to meet your nutritional requirements.

At the food balance, we take care of

• Stimulating Gastrointestinal Tract: Your nutritional needs, stimulate your gastrointestinal tract so that you can come off the feeding tube when your body has healed.
• Personalized Tube Feeding Plan: To help you take care of your tube and make sure you meet adequate protein and caloric requirements.
• Ongoing support: Including coordination during home care, so that you can manage your patient’s tube feeding well.

Universally, a feeding tube works by delivering specific commercially prepared liquid nutrition formula directly into the stomach or intestine. This is done via nasogastric tube (non-surgical) or percutaneous gastrostomy tube (PEG) (surgical). Depending on the condition you may be required to use a feeding tube for a few months or maybe for the rest of your life.

CONDITIONS TREATED WHILE USING TUBE FEEDING

Delivering nutrition through a tube can help you maintain adequate nutrition when a gastrointestinal condition makes it impossible to consume food by mouth. The conditions where you may enteral nutrition are as below

• Esophageal or Gastrointestinal Cancer
• Intestinal failure,
• Bowel Obstruction,
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Stroke
• Hypoxic brain injury leading to a vegetative state

WHAT TO EXPECT WITH TUBE FEEDING?

You or your family member may need a surgical procedure to insert the tube either through your nose and into the stomach or a tube into your intestines.

You may find the entire feeding through the tube scary at first, but you can be assured that we would teach you the evidence-based standards you need to know. With our help, you will learn how to take care of the tube and how to prepare the formula and which one is right for you.

There is a possibility you or your patient may experience diarrhea or constipation. Always remember the diet always needs a little fine-tuning. Over time, your body will adapt and adjust to the liquid nutrition being given.

NASAL FEEDING

Nasogastric (NG) Nasojejunal tubes (NJ), are generally used when tube feeding is needed for a relatively short time, usually 6 weeks.

GASTROSTOMY FEEDING

Surgically placed tubes include Gastrostomy Tube (G tube) or Gastrojejunal tube (Gj) are used to feed for a long time or if a patient cannot have an Ng tube.  

SIDE EFFECTS OF TUBE FEEDING

The most common side effects observed are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and stomach cramps. Other possible side effects include infection on the peg tube feeding site, aspiration (Formula getting into the trachea (the windpipe), and tube being pulled out.