A Feeding Tube: What Is It?
When you can't eat as well as you should, a feeding tube made of flexible plastic is inserted into your stomach or bowel to assist you get the nutrition you need. You might struggle to chew or swallow due to a condition like Parkinson's disease. Or you could be weak from a terrible illness like cancer and unable to maintain a balanced diet.
Depending on your situation, the tube will run either through your nose or mouth or directly into your stomach or intestines. You don’t need surgery for a nasal or mouth tube. They’re often used if the need is temporary. You’ll need surgery for the other types of tubes.
A feeding tube occasionally causes discomfort and even agony. You'll need to modify your sleeping posture and allow more time to maintain and clean your tube and deal with any issues.
Even so, you can generally carry on as usual. You can exercise, go out to eat with friends. As long as you require one, a feeding tube can be left in. Some people live their entire lives on one.
How Do Feeding Tubes Operate?
A liquid nourishment solution is delivered through a feeding tube and into your digestive tract. A formula selected by your doctor or dietician will be specific to your requirements. It includes the precise ratio of protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients that your body need. A feeding tube may also be used to administer drinks and drugs.
The formula can be delivered by tubes in a variety of methods. Some people push the food with a pump or syringe, while others utilize gravity.
A feeding tube will often be implanted while you are in the hospital. Once you go home, you can continue using it. Another name for tube nutrition is enteral nutrition.
Treatment for Conditions Using a Feeding Tube
In the event that any of the following apply to your condition:
Affects your digestive system
Prevents you from properly chewing or swallowing
Makes you lose interest in food
Impedes your capacity to obtain food for yourself
Types of Feeding Tubes
Both the location in your body where feeding tubes are put and the method your doctor employs to do so vary. Those that insert through the nose or mouth are often used for patients who require a feeding tube for fewer than six weeks. If you intend to use one for a longer period of time, surgery will probably be required to place it into your stomach or bowel.
Types of feeding tubes include:
*Nasogastric tubes. These tubes are inserted through your nose and into your stomach. They’re used for short-term feeding and to deliver medications while you’re in the hospital.
*Nasojejunal tubes (NJT). This type of tube runs from your nose to a section of your small intestine called the jejunum. You might get this type after pancreatic surgery or if you have a small intestinal blockage.
*Nasoduodenal (ND) tubes. They go from your nose to your duodenum, another part of your small intestine.
*Orogastric (OG) tubes. These feeding tubes are similar to the nasogastric type, but are inserted into your mouth and down into your stomach. They’re intended for short-term use.
*Oroenteric tubes. Like OG tubes, these are temporary tubes placed through your mouth, but the tube goes into your small intestine.
*Gastric (G) tubes: Your doctor inserts this type of tube using surgery. They run through the skin of your belly and into your stomach. Like other surgically placed tubes, they’re meant for longer-term tube feeding.
*Jejunostomy (JEJ, PEJ, or RIJ) tubes. A surgeon places these tubes into your jejunum. You might get one if you’ve had surgery on your esophagus or stomach.
*Percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (PEJ) or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes. This type of tube is inserted with endoscopic surgery, meaning that the surgeon uses a tiny camera to help place it.
*Radiologically inserted gastrostomy (RIG) or radiologically inserted jejunostomy tubes (RIJ). If you can’t have an endoscopy, the doctor can use imaging similar to an X-ray to put the tube in the right place during surgery.
*Percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEG-J) tubes. Your surgeon inserts the tube through your skin into your stomach, then through the stomach into your jejunum. You’re left with one opening, or port, leading to your stomach, and another to your small intestine. You might get a PEG-J if you have serious gastric reflux disease (GERD) or part of your stomach has been removed.
Your feeding system might deliver nutrition into your body by way of:
*A gravity bag. These bags hang from an IV pole or hook. When they’re filled with formula, gravity moves it down the tube and into your body.
*A feeding syringe. A syringe connected to your feeding tube sends formula into your body. It includes a connector or valve to regulate the feedings. You might also hear this called bolus feeding.
A* bag and pump. A pump pushes formula from a bag into the feeding tube. It’s sometimes used for continuous feeding, which runs for 24 hours a day.
