

Longer use may cause oesophagitis, oesophageal ulceration and stricture.Although acute complications such as pharyngeal or oesophageal perforation, intracranial or bronchial insertion are uncommon, they may be fatal.This may cause nasopharyngeal discomfort and later nasal erosions, abscesses and sinusitis.See the separate article Nutritional Support in Primary Care. Complications of enteral feeding General complications of feeding Enteral immunonutrition may decrease major infectious complications and length of hospital stay in surgical and some critically ill patients. Nutrients such as glutamine, arginine and essential omega-3 fatty acids are able to modulate immune function. The fibre content of feeds is variable and some are supplemented with vitamin K, which may interact with other medications.
#Qfeed for tube feeding nares free#
These contain nitrogen as short peptides or free amino acids and aim to improve nutrient absorption in the presence of pancreatic insufficiency or inflammatory bowel disease.These contain all the carbohydrate, protein, fat, water, electrolytes, micronutrients (vitamins and trace elements) and fibre required by a stable patient.Various nutritionally complete pre-packaged feeds are available: This can be difficult and has more complications.They are inserted through the stomach into the jejunum, using a surgical or endoscopic technique.They permit early postoperative feeding and are useful in patients at risk of reflux.They are inserted directly through the stomach wall endoscopically or surgically, under antibiotic cover.Relative contra-indications include reflux, previous gastric surgery, gastric ulceration or malignancy and gastric outlet obstruction.Indications for gastrostomy include stroke, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease and oesophageal cancer.Post-pyloric placement can be difficult but may be aided by intravenous prokinetics or fibre-optic observation.These reduce the incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux and are useful in the presence of delayed gastric emptying.Tubes are simple to insert but are easily displaced.They allow the use of hypertonic feeds, high feeding rates and bolus feeding into the stomach reservoir.These are the most commonly used delivery routes but depend on adequate gastric emptying.


Percutaneous endoscopic gastrotomy (PEG) or jejunostomy placement should be considered if feeding is planned for longer than one month : However, the evidence on which this rate is based has been challenged, and ranges upwards of 40 ml per hour have been suggested. Traditionally the recommendation has been 30 ml per hour. Opinions vary as to the initial continuous feeding rate. Short-term access is usually achieved using nasogastric (NG) or nasojejunal (NJ) tubes. Low-flow enteral feeding may also be useful in combination with parenteral nutrition to maintain gut function and reduce the likelihood of cholestasis.
