Nutrient deficiencies can be alleviated with the utility of feeding tubes. This medium can help patients having difficulty to swallow solid food. Thus, it will ensure that the right amount of nutrients will be absorbed by the body through these tubes.
However, inserting a feeding tube to a patient will not be his or her own decision to make. The responsibility goes to the one who will have to make that decision for someone else. Perhaps the essentiality of inserting this type of equipment for nutrition will justify this process. Nevertheless, here are some pros and cons to justify the installation of feeding tubes for the daily sustenance of patients.
List of Pros of Feeding Tubes
1. It Will Provide Nutrition
In some severe cases, considering the patient is too weak to eat, the insertion of feeding tubes is very essential. At this point, the patient need not lose any more of his or her strength. Otherwise, the patient will have to pass out or die due to extreme deprivation of nourishment. Since nutrition is vital for the survival and wellness of a patient, inserting a feeding tube is a good option to take.
2. It Is a Temporary Feeding Mechanism
Patients and family members need not worry because feeding tubes are only temporary. For rare cases, patients need to be fed through these tubes to help in the recovery process. Once the patient has recovered from the illness, he or she will be able to eat normally without being dependent anymore to this mechanism.
3. Easy to Prepare Food for Feeding
There are many ways to feed the patient using these tubes. If he or she requires fruits or vegetables, preparing a variety of nutritious food can be made possible by mixing them up with a blender.
List of Cons of Feeding Tubes
1. Possibility of Infection
There are various ways of inserting the tubes for feeding the patient. These may include the creation of holes through the stomach, small intestines, and the nose. Some of these cases can be permanent depending on the severity of the illness. Thus, there are risks of infection through the holes created for this procedure.
2. It Might Overflow
When the patient undergoes feeding through these tubes, it means that the normal process will no longer function. Normally, when the stomach gets full, it will send signals to the brain that he or she is full. Once the patient gets overfed through feeding tubes, it will no longer be able to function well. So there is a tendency that the excess food stuff will rot inside the stomach and cause infection or send some liquid to the lungs.
3. It Will Cause Discomfort
The use of feeding tubes is not a bit comfy for the patients. This can even be a lot more challenging for patients having Alzheimer’s who will not understand the tube’s purpose. The only way to make this happen is to employ sedation so that the feeding tube will remain in place.
Ultimately, the one who will make the decision of feeding a patient or an elderly through a tube will be responsible for his or her actions. However, understanding the purpose of these actions can help those responsible to acquire peace of mind knowing that they have made the right choice.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
