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Managing home enteral tube feeding for children
1Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Queen Elizabeth Children's Service, The Royal London Hospital, London, UK. jamil.khair@bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk
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Childhood undernutrition has long-term effects, leading to increased use of enteral tube feeding. This guide covers feeding routes, problem-solving, and coordinating care for children transitioning from hospital to home.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Clinical Nutrition
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Growing awareness of childhood undernutrition's long-term consequences.
- Increasing number of children require nutritional support via enteral tubes.
- Many children continue enteral feeding after hospital discharge into community settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss various enteral tube feeding routes, including indications and contraindications.
- To outline problem-solving procedures for enteral feeding.
- To address coordination between acute and community services for effective discharge planning.
Main Methods:
- Review of current practices in enteral tube feeding.
- Discussion of clinical guidelines and problem-solving strategies.
- Analysis of inter-service cooperation and discharge planning.
Main Results:
- Identification of diverse enteral feeding routes and their specific uses.
- Establishment of key considerations for managing complications.
- Emphasis on the need for seamless transition and coordinated care.
Conclusions:
- Effective management of enteral tube feeding requires understanding routes, indications, and troubleshooting.
- Successful discharge planning hinges on cooperation between acute and community healthcare providers.
- Optimizing care for children on enteral nutrition necessitates integrated service delivery.
Abstract:
There is a growing awareness of the long-term consequences of undernutrition in childhood. Consequently, an ever-increasing number of children are receiving nutritional support using an enteral tube. While most of the children will commence artificial feeding in hospital, a significant proportion will continue to be artificially fed on discharge into the community. This article discusses the various routes of enteral tube feeding, their indications and contraindications and problem-solving procedures. The article also discusses the issues of cooperation and coordination between acute and community services, and offers some guidance on effective discharge planning for these children.