How is tube feeding different from intravenous (IV) or parenteral feeding?
Intravenous nutrition, also called hyperalimentation or parenteral nutrition, provides a patients total nutritional needs directly into the blood stream by way of an IV catheter put into a large vein. This type of therapy is usually used for a shorter period of time than tube feedings. It bypasses the persons digestive system, but is generally more expensive. For long-term therapy, enteral tube feeding uses the persons own digestive system to absorb the nutrients in a more normal manner. This is always preferable to IV therapy, and therefore, is used whenever possible. Each type of therapy is used in different situations, but physicians prefer to use a patients own gastrointestinal tract for feedings if at all possible.What types of tubes are used to instill tube feedings? Small plastic, rubber, or Silastic tubes are used. Tubes are changed whenever they become clogged, weakened, cracked, or brittle. Often, this is done at regularly scheduled intervals depending on the type of tube. Tu
