When the patient is not able to eat as usual, the doctor may prescribe artificial nutrition for him. It involves the introduction of nutrients using a probe, enema, or intravenous. Such nutrition is necessary when the usual is undesirable, for example, so as not to aggravate the patient’s condition, when food can enter the respiratory tract or cause infection of wounds after a recent operation.
It is possible to deliver food components to the body passively. One type of such delivery is probe feeding. Energy is expended only at the stage of digestion.
Through a probe, food is delivered from the oral or novos cavity to the stomach. Also, the probe can be held so that one end remains free, leaving the holes created artificially.
Types
In medicine, several types of probes are distinguished:
- Nasogastric - when the establishment of the probe occurs through one of the nasal passages.
- Gastric - established through the mouth.
- Gastrostomy - creating artificial holes and conducting a probe through them.
- A jejunostoma is the placement of one end of the device in the small intestine, and the other end remains free.
Probes are distinguished by diameter. Gastric is larger, and since it is more convenient to carry out food with it, often feeding through a probe is carried out using this device. Additionally, a nasogastric tube is used when it is not possible to use the first. The diameter of the gastrostomy is the same as that of the gastric, but it is shorter. And besides, you need to make additional holes to feed through the probe.
Indications
To make it necessary to conduct nutrition with a probe, the patient must have certain indications:
- it is impossible to consume food in the usual way;
- the patient’s stomach and intestines function normally.
Therefore, feeding through a probe is carried out to persons who are unconscious and debilitated patients. Also, the named procedure is prescribed if the patient cannot swallow for various reasons. In addition, feeding a patient through a probe is also carried out in cases when an operation on the stomach or esophagus has been postponed.
Positive effect
When the stomach and intestines work, but there is no possibility to take food as usual, then using the probe gives certain positive effects:
- The lack of nutrients and energy substances that are needed for the body to function normally is being replenished.
- Normal bowel function with this type of feeding is ensured.
- When food enters the stomach, and then into the intestines, the gastrointestinal tract continues to function.
Installation rule
In order for feeding through the probe to be successful, you need to follow some rules. The installation of the probe, the use and care of it - all this must clearly comply with the instructions so as not to harm even the patient who needs the named feeding.
The installation of the probe involves its precise entry into the necessary section of the gastrointestinal tract. Particular caution should be exercised when administered to the respiratory tract. Therefore, during the procedure, you need to carefully monitor the patient's condition. And then you should check if the installation location is correct. Verification is carried out using air.
To do this, attach the Janet syringe with a piston, which is withdrawn until it stops, to the free end of the probe. And on the area located just below the xiphoid process, put a phonendoscope. Pressure on the piston allows air to be pushed into the probe. The splash that will be heard through the phonendoscope indicates the correctness of the probe.
It must be remembered that if something goes wrong, then feeding through the probe will become impossible. The algorithm for introducing this feeding tool is simple, but the installation process itself is very time consuming. So, it is not possible to introduce a probe to an exhausted person, because his stomach is almost empty.
Feeding a premature baby
If the baby was born prematurely, depending on the degree of its development, artificial feeding may be prescribed if it does not yet have sucking and swallowing reflexes.
Feeding through the tube of the newborn can be carried out in two ways:
- The introduction is provided for a period of one feeding, and then it is removed.
- For repeated use, the device is inserted once and is not removed.
A newborn needs to be introduced a probe very carefully. Before this, you need to measure the distance from the bridge of the nose to the sternum. Before the introduction, you need to pour a little milk into the tube for subsequent verification that the installation was correct.
Feeding a baby through a tube should be extremely careful. It is necessary to watch all the time so that the child does not choke and breathe freely. If vomiting begins during milk intake, then you need to turn the baby on a barrel and stop feeding. Later, when the child can swallow, it will be possible to give milk or a mixture through a pipette.
Feeding the sick
Severely ill people require particularly careful care. When appetite decreases and the chewing and swallowing movements become weak, it may be necessary to feed the seriously ill through a tube.
In such cases, it is important to choose a balanced diet for the patient in order not only to maintain life in the body, but also to stimulate processes with the help of nutrition, which in the future can affect a person’s recovery:
- Food needs to be entered only liquid. Feeding through the probe provides for special preparations with a homogenized emulsion, with a balanced content of vitamins and minerals.
- If the substances from the introduced food are slowly absorbed, then a nutritional enema can be made. The principle of implementation is the same as that of a cleansing one, but instead of water, a nutritional composition is gained into the pear.
After completing the feeding procedure, the instruments for administration are disinfected, and the probe itself remains in the stomach for 4-5 days.
Specialist consultation required
Do not install the probe yourself, without a doctor’s prescription. In addition, consultation on this type of nutrition should be carried out by a medical professional, and he should control all the first manipulations with the probe, correcting defects and errors. But this is only if the patient is at home and he was prescribed such care that usually rarely happens.
When a person is a patient in a hospital, the medical staff takes care of him. If this is done by a person who is absolutely not prepared to carry out such a procedure, then he can inflict internal damage that will impede the subsequent installation of the probe and lead to serious consequences.