Definition: A method of providing nutrition and fluids through a tube to a person who cannot eat or drink normally. These are also called "feeding tubes."
Description: There are two methods for tube feeding. Nutrition in liquid form can be given through a small flexible tube passed through the nose to the stomach, or the liquid can be given through a tube that is surgically inserted into the stomach by way of the abdomen.
Benefits: Ability to obtain fluid and nutrition when you are otherwise unable to obtain this intake by mouth.
Risks: The nose tube can make talking and swallowing uncomfortable; it can also cause irritation and soreness in the nose. Infection may develop at the site of a stomach tube. Pneumonia can develop if fluid or food gets into the lungs rather than the stomach. This is called "aspiration" and aspiration cannot be prevented by tube feeding.
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This man is being fed
through a tube passed
through his stomach.
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This woman is being fed
through a tube passed
through her nose.
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