Enteral Nutrition Support
摘要
Enteral nutrition is recommended when oral feeds are not adequate to sustain nutrition or in circumstances when oral feeds are not feasible. Feeding into the stomach is most common route and offers the advantage of easy handling and administration of bolus feeds, and preferred by majority of patients. For short term, feeds can be provided via nasogastric tubes and for longer term (greater than 8–12 weeks), and gastrostomy feeds can be provided. Post-pyloric feeds are indicated if gastric feeds are not tolerated such as in patients with severe gastroparesis. Families should be educated thoroughly prior to the initiation of enteral feeds regarding the anticipated complication of enteral feeds such as feeding intolerance, leakage around the gastrostomy tube, gastrostomy site infections/granuloma, displacement/occlusion of nasogastric tube, and so on. Oral feeding silks must be encouraged and maintained unless medically contraindicated. These patients are best managed by the multidisciplinary team consisting of nutrition support physician/advanced practice nurse, registered dietitian, registered nurse, social worker, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, and behavioral psychologist.