Feeding tubes

Feeding in the intensive care
It’s very important for patients in the intensive care unit to maintain an adequate nutrition and calorie intake in order to fight the infection and aid recovery after prolonged illness, so while they are unable to eat enough normally, we use tube feeding.

There are several feeding tubes that may be used in the ICU:

Nasogastric tube - A nasogastric tube is the most common type of feeding tube used.  These are long thin tubes, placed by a nurse or the doctor, which goes into the nose, down the oesophagus (food pipe) until it reaches the stomach. Nasogastric tubes are used to feed the patients in intensive care who are unable to eat or drink enough. In addition to this, these tube could be used to drain the stomach contents. Complications with nasogastric tube are rare and the position of the tube is checked either by X-ray to ensure that it’s in the right position.

Intravenous feeding (total parenteral nutrition or TPN):  If there are problems with absorption of the feed through the stomach, nutrition can be provided through a central line into the veins.

Other types of tube used for feeding include:

Nasojejunal (NJ or "jeg") tube:  If there are problems with the nasogastric tube (e.g. poor absorption of the feed), an NJ tube might be inserted. These are similar to nasogastric tube but tip of the tube is positioned in the small intestine (jejunum) instead of the stomach. Special x-rays or other imaging may be needing to ensure the tube is positioned in exactly the right place.

PEG tube (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy): tube is inserted through the skin on the abdomen leading into the stomach. One of these tubes may be inserted if a patient needs long term feeding, or if they are at high risk of breathing food into their lungs. PEG tubes are inserted by a surgeon in the operating theatre.