| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 18
| Issue : 1 | Page : 31--33 |
Feeding tube-related complications and problems in patients receiving long-term home enteral nutrition
Vasileios Alivizatos, Vasiliki Gavala, Panagiotis Alexopoulos, Alexandros Apostolopoulos, Slaja Bajrucevic
Department of Surgery and Artificial Nutrition Unit, "St. Andrew" General Hospital, Patra, Greece
Correspondence Address:
Vasileios Alivizatos
Department of Surgery and Artificial Nutrition Unit, "St. Andrew" General Hospital, Patra
Greece
DOI: 10.4103/0973-1075.97346
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term complications and problems related to gastrostomy and jejunostomy feeding tubes used for home enteral nutrition support and the effect these have on health care use.
Materials and Methods: The medical records of 31 patients having gastrostomy (27 patients) and jejunostomy (4) feeding tubes inserted in our Department were retrospectively studied. All were discharged on long-term (>3 months) enteral nutrition and followed up at regular intervals by a dedicated nurse. Any problem or complication associated with tube feeding as well as the intervention, if any, that occurred, was recorded. Data were collected and analyzed.
Results: All the patients were followed up for a mean of 17.5 months (4-78). The most frequent tube-related complications included inadvertent removal of the tube (broken tube, plugged tube; 45.1%), tube leakage (6.4%), dermatitis of the stoma (6.4%), and diarrhea (6.4%). There were 92 unscheduled health care contacts, with an average rate of such 2.9 contacts over the mean follow-up time of 17.5 months.
Conclusion: In patients receiving long-term home enteral nutrition, feeding tube-related complications and problems are frequent and result in significant health care use. Further studies are needed to address their optimal prevention modalities and management.
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