Nutritional Support
Basics
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Research
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Summary
Nutritional support is therapy for people who cannot get enough nourishment by eating or drinking. You may need it if you
- Can't swallow
- Have problems with your appetite
- Are severely malnourished
- Can't absorb nutrients through your digestive system
You receive nutritional support through a needle or catheter placed in your vein or with a feeding tube, which goes into your stomach.
Related Issues
- Adult Catheter Care and Infection Prevention Guide (Oley Foundation) - PDF
- Central Venous Catheter (Central Line) (American Thoracic Society) - PDF
- Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) Complication Chart (Oley Foundation) - PDF
- Tips for Traveling with HomePEN (Oley Foundation)
- Tube Feeding Troubleshooting Guide (Oley Foundation) - PDF
- Vascular Access Procedures (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) (American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) Also in Spanish
- Total Parenteral Nutrition (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists)
- What Is Enteral Nutrition? (American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition) Also in Spanish
Images
- Gastrostomy tube placement - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Nutritional Support
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Parenteral Nutrition
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Reference Desk
- LifeLineLetter (Oley Foundation)
Find an Expert
- Find a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
- Food and Drug Administration
Children
- Gastrostomy Tube (G-Tube) (Nemours Foundation)
- Weaning Preparation for Children Fed by G-Tube (Oley Foundation)
Patient Handouts
- Feeding tube - infants (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Gastrostomy feeding tube - bolus (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Gastrostomy feeding tube - pump (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Jejunostomy feeding tube (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Nasogastric feeding tube (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- PEG tube insertion -- discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish