Enteral Feeding: Combat Malnutrition After Injury or Illness

After an injury or illness, returning nutrients to your body is important and using enteral or tube feeding may be your best bet. Health Products for You can help with enteral feeding.

Our bodies require a plethora of vitamins and minerals to maintain a healthy state. After an injury or illness, your ability to give your body the nutrients it needs may become hindered, diminished, or even an impossibility. How do we ensure that our bodies get the proper nourishment it needs? You may be able to accomplish this through enteral feeding.

What Is Enteral Feeding?

Enteral feeding is a way to deliver important nutrients to those who may be at risk of malnutrition. It is usually achieved by a feeding tube that delivers vital vitamins and minerals directly to the stomach, intestines, or duodenum. It is critical to maintain an open and unclogged feeding tube, so be sure to monitor it closely. This can help battle malnutrition for those with intact digestive systems, but may not be able to properly orally intake food or nutrition. Enteral feeding can benefit a wide range of patients that can include:

• Critically Ill Patients
• Post Operative Patients
• Pancreatitis Patients
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Metabolic Disorders
• Neuromuscular Disorders

How to avoid Malnutrition?

Okay, we now understand who can benefit from enteral feeding, but how and what exactly do we need to do to avoid malnutrition? In order to properly implement an enteral feeding routine, understanding the parts of the feeding system can be quite handy. Work with your doctor, nurse, or nutritionist to develop the proper nutrition plan you may need. This plan/system may include different types of feeding tubes and the American College of Gastroenterology identifies six types of enteral feeding tubes that include:

1. Nasogastric Tube: this type of enteral feeding tube is inserted into the nose and into the stomach to deliver important vitamins and nutrients.
2. Orogastric Tube: an enteral tube that starts in the mouth and ends in the stomach is considered an orogastric tube or (OGT).
3. Nasoentric Tube: instead of ending in the stomach, this type of enteral tube starts in the nose and terminates in the intestines. It can also include nasojejunal and nasoduodenal tubes.
4. Oroentric Tube: this type of feeding tube originates in the mouth and is connected to the intestines.
5. Gastronomy Tube: terminating in the stomach, this type of enteral feeding tube is placed through an incision in the skin of the abdomen and can include PEG, PRG, and button tubes.
6. Jejunostomy Tube: going directly through the abdomen to the intestines, This type of feeding tube includes PEJ and PRJ tubes.
    

The need for enteral feeding may be supplemental or the entire source of nutrients, but your doctor will determine which tube will be required and the enteral formula needed. Enteral formulas can be administered with an enteral pump, a syringe, or a delivery bag system. Enteral feeding can combat malnutrition, but there are risks and complications associated with feeding tubes. These can include aspiration (food going into the lungs), infection of tube/insertion site, nausea/vomiting if feeding is too large or fast, diarrhea, and tube dislodgement/blockage. Also, the issue of refeeding syndrome can occur and is a dangerous imbalance of electrolytes during reintroduction of nutrients via enteral feedings.

Alcor Enteral Feeding Pump	Nestle Vivonex Total Enteral Nutrition	Covidien Kendall Pump Sets

Where to buy Enteral Feeding Products online?

Enteral Feeding or tube feeding means providing the users with nutritionally complete feed, including minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fats, and water directly into their stomach, jejunum, or duodenum. Patient room offers a wide range of enteral feeding products from top brands such as Nestle Nutrition, Abbott, Kimberly-clark, Covidien. Shop now!

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