NURSING 2L03 Lecture 1: Nasogastric (NG) Tube Care & Enteral Feeding
3 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Patients who have adequate digestion but cannot ingest, chew or swallow food safely or in adequate amounts. Inserted usually into the stomach or small intestine. Placement depends on anticipated duration of feeding & patient factors (eg. as gastric emptying) Short term feeding tubes can be put in the mouth or nose (nasogastric or orogastric (ogo)) When the duration of tube feeding extends beyond 4 weeks, or in situations in which access to. Gi tract through the nose or mouth is contraindicated, direct enteral access through abdominal wall is the optimal choice. The most serious complication of ng tube insertion is inadvertent pulmonary intubation. Researchers estimate that 1% to 2% of ng tubes placed blindly enter the airway undetected, which can lead to serious pulmonary injury. Variation in the color & ph of fluid withdrawn from feeding tubes can help to differentiate tubes positioned in the stomach from those that rest in the small intestine.
