Tube Feeding Guide

Naso Jenjunal Tube

Nutrison Feed For Enteral Feeding

Home Feeding...Get Your Back In To It!

I thought it would be useful to start a page with advice on the various options for tube feeding. I know from my own experiences that it is not an easy adjustment to make for many many reasons but it does give back a little of what gastroparesis has taken from us.

In most cases by the time you reach the point of looking at tube feeding it has become a matter of self preservation, you will do anything just to break the cycle of hospital admissions, dehydration and starvation. It is no longer a choice you have to make...its essential to maintain life. However, just because something is necessary doesn't mean that you have to be ok with it! It's perfectly normal to feel a sense of loss or anger and its more than ok to be scared. Its easy to look on the internet and see people living life quite happily with tube feeds and feel guilty for feeling low about it but believe me...everyone who has been in your position has their days where they just wish it would all go away! That doesn't mean you will always feel like that, you are stronger than you know...really you are!

Please see the video below for guidance on setting up an enteral feed (artificial feeding into the digestive system). The tube featured in the demonstration is a naso-jejunal feeding (NJ) tube but the principles are the same for all types of enteral feeding such as naso-gastric feeding (NG) PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) tubes, and PEJ (percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy) tubes and PEG-J (gastrostomy tube with jejunal extension). The type of tube offered to you by your healthcare provider will depend on your range of symptoms and the length of time you will require it for.

Naso-Gastric feeding and Naso-Jejunal feeding tubes are usually used as a short term treatment option whereas the PEG and PEJ tubes are for long term use.

What's the difference?

Naso-gastric tubes and the long term PEG tubes feed directly into the stomach. They are used widely for patients who are unable to swallow and for anyone who is unable to eat but has an otherwise healthy stomach.

Naso-Jejunal and PEJ tubes feed nutrients into the jejunum (small intestine) therefore by-passing the role of the stomach. This is considered to be the best option for nutritional support for gastroparesis. It allows patients to receive reliable nutrition without the associated symptoms experienced when feeding into the stomach.

The products featured are from the UK and although the brand may be different the principles are the same wherever you are. My NHS trust uses Nutricia products, you can get more information on the products featured at: www.nutricia.co.uk or www.nutricia.com