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The Cons of Feeding Tubes

Most people are able to eat regularly through the mouth and enjoy a wide variety of tastes and textures from foods and drinks. Occasionally, however, psychological or physical conditions make swallowing and ingesting foods and drinks difficult. In such cases, one of the only ways to provide nourishment to an individual is through a feeding tube. These tubes can save lives, but they also can have many complications, risks and inconveniences associated with them.

  1. Discomfort

    • When an individual first undergoes the surgery to insert the tube, it is not uncommon for him to experience discomfort from gas or air that gets trapped during insertion. Discomfort also is felt when the person is adjusting to the liquid diet, because the human digestive system is not designed to process only liquids.

    Leakage

    • Leakage commonly can occur around the insertion site of the feeding tube. This occurs typically because the stoma has enlarged around the tube, or when the tube has shifted or been improperly placed. This can be both uncomfortable and dangerous because leakage means that there is more than enough room for bacteria and other pathogens to enter the insertion site and cause infection.

    Tension

    • Tension is put on the feeding tube as a person moves around. The amount of tension can be impacted by the placement and position of the tube. This tension, if too high, can kill abdominal tissue, a condition called pressure necrosis.

    Clogging

    • Feeding tubes can become easily clogged if they are not cleaned frequently. This means that the individual with the tube, or the person responsible for caring for her, is forced to rinse the tube out before and after every feeding. It also limits the type of liquid that can be put through the tube.

    Replacement and Cost

    • Feeding tubes, because of the way they are used and manufactured, need to be replaced. Typically this has to be done about every six months. Those who must be on a feeding tube for an extensive period of time will have to pay for repeated replacements.

    Time

    • Feeding tubes significantly increase the amount of time it takes to eat. Normally, a person can eat an entire meal in 15 to 30 minutes, but in order to prevent nausea, vomiting or other side effects from administering the liquid food too fast, a person with a feeding tube has to spread their feeding time to up to an hour. This can be very inconvenient simply because the person with the tube is forced to eat at a certain pace no matter how busy or hungry he may be.

    Lack of Pleasure

    • Another problem with feeding tubes is they rob the individual of the ability to really taste her meals, which is part of enjoying food. The individual may miss being able to taste normally and even may become depressed because she cannot eat in a normal way.

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