Small bowel obstruction from a dislodged feeding tube - Author Abstract

Age and Ageing, Jan, 2004 by Moshe Kamar, Avner Bar-Dayan, Oded Zmora, Amran Ayalon

Elderly nursing home patients may suffer from inadequate oral nutritional intake for a variety of reasons. In some of them, nutritional stares cannot be maintained without the use of enteral feeding. Nasogastric robe feeding is associated with significant patient discomfort, and may lead to significant complications.

Thus, in those who require long-term enteral tube feeding, a gastrostomy tube may be necessary. Although surgical insertion may occasionally be required, percutaneous insertion with upper endoscopy assistance is usually safe and feasible. This case represents an unusual complication of such a gastrostomy tube, which draws attention to the need for appropriate care of these tubes.