Tena

Due to several complications such as renal disease, cardiac defects, gastrointestinal problems, chewing and swallowing abnormalities, cerebral palsy among others, you or your loved ones may need to be fed through tubes. This is important because the body requires nutrients and energy to keep it functioning normally. The feeding tubes will dispatch food, formulas, and water from feeding bags into the digestive tract by gravity, a process known as enteral feeding.

Feeding through tubes is also an important procedure that helps stabilize children with poor hygiene. If your child has can’t get enough nutrients through chewing and drinking or even swallow safely, this method is highly advised. Also, healing patients experiencing difficulty in taking in solid or liquid food may enteral feeding very effective in nutrients intake. There are three main ways of administering food through a gravity feeding bag; Jejunostomy (JT), nasogastric tube (NGT), or gastrostomy tube.

Jejunostomy is a surgical procedure that creates an opening on the surface of the abdomen and connects a tube into the small intestine. In gastrostomy surgical operation, a tube is connected to the stomach through the abdominal wall to administer food. The nasogastric tube on the other hand, is a procedure that involves insertion of a feeding tube through the nose past the throat into the stomach; a commonly used method for people who can chew or swallow properly. These feeding bags for patients are efficient ways of delivering nutrients to patient’s body. However, your doctor will recommend a suitable feeding method depending on your specific condition’s assessment.

Gravity feeding takes into account several measures to appropriately administer food. These measures include things like feeding position, food or formula administration, safety equipment and supplies. Typically, the supplies needed for enteral feeding include
1. Formula
2. IV pole
3. A container of Water
4. Catheter tip syringe (60 mL)
5. Tape
6. Gravity feeding bag.

In setting up the feeding system, you first have to thoroughly wash your hands. Use soap and plenty of water to completely rinse off any contaminant. Then, ensure all your supplies are clean before you proceed to assemble the tube feeding in an open and clean place too.

Secondly, if you are using Kangaroo feeding bags or any other type of feeding bag that features a clamp, make sure it is closed. Open the bag and pour in the prescribed amount of formula. Then, hang the feeding bag on an IV pole, but after you’ve removed the closing cover on the bag’s tubing.

Take caution when closing the tubing to avoid air passing into the stomach, after which you can now gently open the clamp and let the formula drain to the tip of the tubing, the close it using the clamp. If you have a button attached to your abdomen, carefully insert the adapter into it. After you’ve attached the tip of the tubing to the feeding tube, you can comfortably regulate the amount of formula intake in your body.

Using a gravity feeding bag, doctors highly advise on delivering the formula in small quantities to avoid symptoms of vomiting, nausea, stomach bloating and fullness. However, if these symptoms persist even with the slower rate of feeding, contact your physician.

With kangaroo gravity feeding bags such as the kangaroo joey pump bags, your formula can have a different temperature from your surrounding. In addition, they also set an anti-free flow for smooth formula administration.