When to Stop a Continuous Tube Feeding?
Is It Helping? Look at how much good the tube feeding is doing. If the person has a medical condition that is terminal and which is causing him to lose weight anyway, and if he is in severe pain, then a continuous feeding tube really may be postponing the inevitable (death). This may be a case when the patient and the patient’s friends and family need to discuss the removal of the tube so that the patient does not suffer needlessly. If the tube is maintaining a person’s health and recovery prognosis is very good, however, then the tube probably should be kept in place. Desires There are many cases where doctors are not completely sure if a person on a continuous feeding tube will recover. In these cases, examine the wishes of the patient and the patient’s family and friends. For instance, if a person is in a coma, he may have a living will that specifies that he does not want life support such as a feeding tube continued for over a certain period of time, or the will may state that he
