NGT Feeding at Home: Basics for Patient Care and Monitoring

The body has certain basic nutritional requirements that play an important role in maintaining a person’s health and quality of life. Nutritional status involves the body’s shape and health due to dietary intake, nutritional levels, and how the body is using it for normal function and maintenance.

When a patient requires enteral nutrition, they gain nutrition directly through the gastrointestinal tract. To receive feeding, there are many routes and methods of which the NG Tube is the most commonly used. In this blog, we will talk about a few important things to consider while providing care during tube feeding at home.

Care During Tube Feeding and NGT Feeding at Home 

The Naso Gastric Tube is generally inserted through a procedure performed by trained medical professionals in a medical center. However, healthcare professionals, such as nurses can provide NGT feeding at home. They may also train caregivers to do the same.

This form of feeding may be giving the patient the nutrition they require, but a lot of times their mental health gets affected. Caregivers need to step in to help relieve the psychological distress in such situations. They can give the emotional support needed by the patient for their well-being.

There is a set of standard procedures to follow when taking care of or monitoring the patients along with their feeding tubes. These include:

● Ensuring Proper Tube Position: The tube should remain in a particular position where it enters the nasal tract. Otherwise, it can come out or move in the wrong position, so it is important to use an adhesive to keep it from moving. Check the nasal tape daily and change it when necessary.

● Avoid Accidental Removal: Caregivers must make sure the tube doesn’t come out while they help the patient switch their position. This can happen during tube feeding at home as well. They also have to pay attention to the tube as the patient sleeps. This is because they may accidentally pull out the NGT in the process. If this happens, the caregiver should get in touch with a professional rather than try to put the tube back.

● Keeping the Tube Clean: The caregiver has to keep the tube clean to keep the patient safe from infections or blockages. For this, they have to flush the tube before and after feeding as well as medicine administering. Warm water proves best for this.

● Switching the Tube: If the tube is made from PVC, it can last about two weeks. Polyurethane tubes, on the other hand, work for around 5-6 weeks due to their resistance to gastric acid. However, they require proper care that caregivers should learn about from a trained medical professional. They can also teach the caregiver to assess and change the tube when needed and contact their medical professional in case of feeding or trach care at home complications.

Some Issues During NGT Feeding at Home and Its Care

You can prevent most of the complications that may occur during tube feeding at home or during its care. These include leaks, displacement, obstructions, gastric issues, infection, and others. Close and regular assessment and monitoring of the patients is crucial to steer clear of all these problems. 

Here, we will briefly discuss the most common complications of NGT feeding at home:

● Oral Infections: The mouth of the patient can get dry due to enteral feeding and becomes vulnerable to oral infections. Therefore, they require assistance in taking care of their oral health to eliminate the risk of infection and dryness with the help of sprays and gels.

● Discomfort: Constipation, gas, and gastric pains are bad enough for a healthy individual. For a patient with a feeding tube, these are even more discomforting. Caregivers can help prevent these by controlling the rate, amount, and proportion of feed. They will also have to keep an eye on the number of fibrous supplements and ensure sufficient intake of fluids. The patients’ bowel movements need monitoring as well to assess functions.

● Self-hygiene: Caregivers should never attend to the patient without washing their hands thoroughly. The same goes for handling the food, medicine, and tube feeding at home. Cleaning the skin near the nose with an aseptic cloth is essential both before and after feeding the patient. 

● Blockage or Dryness in the Nose: The patient may feel their nose is too dry or blocked which is when their caregiver needs to check whether they have to clean it. Regular cleaning increases comfort in this regard but if there is swelling or redness, they should consult with the health care professional.