[Complications of continuous tube feeding in 110 internal medicine patients]

110 patients aged 70.9 +/- 2.0 years were tube-fed over an averaged period of 24.5 +/- 4.3 days. The side-effects observed included diarrhea (8%), edema in dependent parts (7%), elevated blood glucose levels (2%), nausea and vomiting (3%), and esophagitis in the distal esophagus (2%). The primary finding in 12% of all placements was a potentially hazardous tube position unsuitable for alimentation. In all cases, the described side-effects could be well controlled or were transient in nature, and there were none severe enough to present a serious threat to the patient. Considering the overall treatment period of 2,683 days, tube-feeding when put into relation to the total cost of DM 31,360.-proves to be a less expensive and less hazardous alternative to parenteral nutrition.