ausEE Inc.

Kids and adults who need elemental formula may have a difficult time drinking enough of it. To maintain proper nutrition, some require tube feeding to allow the formula to go directly into the stomach.

Tube feeding, also called enteral nutrition, is a way food can get into your body if you are unable to eat or unable to eat enough. Food in liquid form or formula is given through a tube into the stomach or small intestine.

Tubes can be placed in different places along the gastrointestinal tract:

• A nasogastric tube (NG tube) is a tube that is put up the nose and down into the stomach.
• A nasojejunal (NJ tube) is similar to an NG tube except that it is threaded through the stomach and into the jejunum, the middle section of the small intestine. 
• In some cases, a Nasoduodenal (ND tube) may be placed into the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.
  
• A gastrostomy (G tube), sometimes called a PEG, (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) is placed in the stomach during a procedure. Some PEG’s have a tube always hanging out, and some replacement PEGs are flat (‘profile’, or ‘buttons’).
• A Gastrojejunal (GJ tube) or Transjejunal Tubes are very similar to G-tubes in that they enter the stomach directly through the skin using the same site or stoma as a G-tube. Most have two feeding ports, one into the stomach, and a second tube that extends into the small intestine.
• A Jejunal (J Tube) or Jejunostomy is placed in the middle part of the small intestine, called the jejunum, during surgery.

This information has been sourced from Queensland Health; for practical information about living with a feeding tube please download their resource Tube Feeding at Home.