Precautions for Using Nasogastric Tube

why is a nasogastric tube used? A nasogastric tube is a clear plastic tube that goes through the nostrils, through the throat and into the stomach. When the patient is unable to eat by mouth or has abnormal swallowing function, or suffers from certain gastrointestinal diseases, a nasogastric tube must be installed, and liquid food is used instead to provide the patient with appropriate calories, nutrition and drugs.

1. What should people with nasogastric tube eat?

Tube-fed diets can be made into a liquid form by using a juicer or conditioner, or by purchasing commercially available tube-fed nutrition products and mixing and mixing various food nutrients. If you are making a homemade tube-fed diet, make sure of the following:

(1) The ingredients are sufficient to provide the daily calorie intake.

(2) Ensure the hygiene of ingredients and cooking utensils. Cut ingredients into small pieces before cooking so that they can be cooked and mashed.

(3) After the ingredients are mashed, add water to the target amount of calories for one day and then beat.

Tube-fed diets required for different diseases, such as diabetics, cancer patients, etc., require different ingredients and nutrient formulas. According to your healthcare provider and dietitian, the use of nasogastric tube can support whole foods or commercially available nutritional supplements.

2. Taking care of family members with nasogastric tube: you must know the process of force feeding

(1) Raise the head of the patient's bed by 45° and adopt a semi-sitting position to avoid aspiration pneumonia.

(2) The temperature of the food is maintained between 37.7°C and 40°C. Overheating or overcooling is not good for the stomach.

(3) Confirm that the nasogastric tube is in the correct position, and the scale of the normal nasogastric tube should be between 45cm and 55cm; wipe off the grease and residual glue on the patient's nose, and replace the breathable tape used to fix the nasogastric tube.

(4) Reflex the nasogastric tube to pump the stomach contents of the patient with the empty needle for feeding.

(5) A small amount of clear, blue or yellow gastric juice will be drawn out normally. After confirming that there is no problem, pump the back-extracted material back into the nasogastric tube. If the re-extracted content is greater than 100ml, or the re-extracted material is brown or black, it is necessary to suspend a meal to let the stomach and intestines rest, and re-extract every hour to confirm. If there is no improvement, seek medical attention as soon as possible.

(6) Put the back pumping material back into the nasogastric tube, take out the empty feeding needle, and connect the nasogastric tube to the syringe.

3. Insert a nasogastric tube and brush your teeth regularly

If you only rely on force-feeding to maintain nutrition, without training to eat by mouth, it will cause the deterioration of oral and swallowing functions, which will make it easier to cause choking; and even without oral feeding, the oral cavity will naturally breed bacteria. If it is not cleaned regularly, There will still be bad breath, tooth decay, and periodontal problems!

Oral cleaning should be done at least once a day for nasogastric tube patients. Clean the teeth, gums, tongue, palate, and oral mucosa with a sponge stick dipped in water; wipe around the mouth with a towel or toilet paper after cleaning. Oral cleaning In addition to teeth, the tongue coating should also be cleaned regularly. You can use fresh pineapple slices for the patient to hold, and then use an oral sponge to scrape off the tongue coating.