Tube feeding in palliative care: benefits and problems.
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy techniques are becoming more widely available and will be considered increasingly for patients with head and neck or upper gastrointestinal malignancies, and for neurological dysphagia, as occurs in motor neurone disease. This case history illustrates some of the practical and ethical issues raised by their use.
Boyd
K J
KJ
King's College Hospital, London.
Beeken
L
L
D000368:Aged; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005774:Gastrostomy; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology