There are times during a hospital stay when the care team may ask a patient (or family member on behalf of the patient) to consider having a special feeding tube, or PEG, placed to prevent medical complications, such as dehydration, malnutrition or aspiration pneumonia.
PEG: A Path to Vitality
A PEG tube is one of many ways to provide nutrients, fluids and medications to a patient when he or she is unable to swallow. “PEG” is an abbreviation for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, a procedure performed by gastroenterologists. A PEG tube is not always permanent, and typically serves as a temporary means of providing sustenance to restore much-needed vitality, as well as preventing the patient from accidentally ingesting food or liquids into his or her lungs.
The PEG tube delivers more nutrition and hydration than the alternative, smaller nasogastric (NG) tube, and is generally more comfortable. An NG tube is placed through the nose and guided down the throat to the esophagus, while a PEG tube is attached to the stomach directly through a small incision (cut) in the skin of the abdomen.
Reasons for the Procedure
Some of the reasons a patient might be a candidate for a PEG tube include:
• Frequent occurrences of food or liquid in the lungs (aspiration);
• Severe difficulty breathing;
• Cancer of the mouth, tongue, larynx or esophagus;
• Paralysis or weakness of the muscles of the lips, tongue and/or larynx from a stroke or other neurological problem.
Sometimes adults with dementia and failure to thrive (a state of decline) forget how to eat and cannot be easily retaught. Patients with altered mental status, lethargy and non-responsiveness are unable to feed themselves or participate in being fed and can also benefit from PEG tube placement until they recover and are more alert. Some patients have a slower rate of recovery and may have an occasional “recreational” feed of a few spoonsful of pudding or applesauce while still receiving most of their fluids and nutrients by tube.
Care Team Provides Careful Attention
The interdisciplinary care team continuously assesses the patient for any improvement in alertness, breathing and oral muscle movement so as to start weaning the patient off tube feeding and getting him or her gradually back to taking solid foods and liquids by mouth.
The decision “to PEG or not to PEG” has many facets, and I hope the information I have shared here will help you make an informed decision should you or a family member ever face such a choice.
To find an excellent doctor who is right for you, please call our Physician Referral Service at 866.804.1007.