Feeding Tubes Pros and Cons in Elderly
Elderly people with critical health are often put on tube feeding. Digestive health begins to diminish as you grow old. Hence, very old people often show poor digestive abilities. As a result, they rapidly lose 20 to 30% of their body weight. If proper nutrition is not provided on time, they can easily risk their life. Feeding through a tube becomes inevitable during times of trauma or surgery, as oral ingestion becomes severely impaired. Medical conditions like dementia, stroke also prevent an individual from normal ingestion of food. Feeding tubes for cancer patients serve a great purpose during such terminal illnesses. However, feeding tubes for the elderly involve myriad risks and complications which are as follows.
Risks of Feeding Tubes
Discomfort
People who are put on a feeding tube often experience discomfort due to gas that enters through the site of insertion. If the tube is not inserted or placed properly, it can give way to air which causes a lot of discomfort for the patient. Also, as the human digestive system is not designed to digest only fluids, the person can take some time to adjust to a liquid diet.
Infection
If there is a leakage at the site of insertion, it could mean a free entry to bacteria and other pathogens. The enlarged stoma at the site of insertion leads to misplacement of the tube, which provides passageway to bacteria.
Clogging
Clogging of feeding tube is one of the most common problems with feeding tubes. The feeding tubes should be cleaned before and after every meal and must be replaced periodically. Clogging also limits the amount of liquid that can be given through a tube.
Disappointment
Tube diet does not provide any kind of gastronomic pleasure to the patient. Eventually, the patient loses interest in meals and goes into depression. Less than 40% of the patients who are tube fed survive more than a year.
Feeding tubes pros and cons should be considered while recommending them to babies as well as elderly. In babies, emphasis should be upon strengthening the oral ingestion skills of the babies, while elderly patients must be provided with proper care and caution while tube feeding
When mom could not eat without choking I also had the choice to take her out of Hospice and have a private care doctor or hospital put in a feeding tube. Hospice will not put in a feeding tube. My friend which is also a nurse told me that after awhile her body would not be able to take in the food right. She would swell up and be very uncomfortable. This is not on the pros and cons I found on the Internet but I am sure it is true. I hope you all don't have to decide if your love one needs a feeding tube or not . It is a hard thing to think about.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. Your support at is so helpful. Yes , my BF is still around . He is wonderful. We are going to his jobs Christmas party this next week and I am kind of looking forward to it. Maybe I am getting social again. Hoping everyone has a Wonderful Christmas .