J tube feeding via pump or gravity?

[prabhu1]

Hi,

I have been seeing conflicting information to some extent...on whether gravity feeding into J tube is a good idea or not.

My hospital in India appears to be not even aware of pump feeding. They drew a blank face when i asked about pump.

However online in forums and other places i see everyone seems to more or less agree that J tube feeds must be via pump. And to get enough calories, it may need to run over night. ?

can you advise me on this please.

[970jbob]

I have a j tube for the past 9 months and gravity feeding did not work for me because it feeds to fast. bear in mind that j tube feeds are slower because there is only so much your small intestines can tolerate . I started at 75 and can now do 150 ml per hour. this is on the high end. to get this rate via gravity is difficult, a pump does this automatically and is precise. I feed overnight for 10-12 hours via pump into j tube. by calculating 75 ml hour I fed for 20-24 hours which is all day and night feeding. first step is to get a pump, second step is increase rate until you figure out your maximum rate, this will determine how long you will feed for daily.

[prabhu1 in reply to 970jbob]

Wow!!! Thank you Bob for the response. I am amazed you could connect yourself to that all day. I am writing this post actually on behalf of my dad..i did realize that overnight feeds are must with pump to get through this period. For some reason, fortunately, he can take 400 ml in 1 hour...although i never did that. We stop with 200 ml in 30 mins. then wait for 2 hours before trying another feed. This is supposed to be more closer to mouth feeds.

Having said that, i am making attempts to get him hooked all night so that he can get enough calories. right now cruising at 100ml / hr on nights....while keeping it at 350ml/ hr during day time intermittent feeds.

may be i should try a slower feed, if it helps digestion of it better..and do it on continous basis.

[970jbob in reply to prabhu1]

Sounds like your father's feeding is through the stomach, g tube, because rates of 200, 350, 400 are extremely high for j tube thru small intestines. Hope your father does well. Jeffrey