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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

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• Images

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Nutritional support is therapy for people who cannot get enough nourishment by eating or drinking. You may need it if you :

• Can't swallow
• Have problems with your appetite
• Are severely malnourished
• Can't absorb nutrients through your digestive system

You receive nutritional support through a needle or catheter placed in your vein or with a feeding tube, which goes into your stomach.

Start Here

• Artificial Hydration and Nutrition (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• What Is Nutrition Support Therapy? (American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition)

Related Issues

• Central Venous Catheter (American Thoracic Society) - PDF
• Tube Feeding Troubleshooting Guide (Oley Foundation) - PDF

Specifics

• Nutritional Support for People Who Are Dying or Severely Demented (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
• Tube Feeding (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
• Understanding Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) (American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) Also in Spanish
• What Is Enteral Nutrition? (American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition)

Images

• Gastrostomy tube placement - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Nutritional Support (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Parenteral Nutrition (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Patient-Reported Outcomes after Surgical, Endoscopic, or Radiological Techniques for Nutritional Support...
• Article: Nutritional Support and Physical Activity Intervention Programs with a Person-Centred Approach...
• Article: Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward nutrition support and management among hemodialysis...
• Nutritional Support -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Find a Nutrition Expert (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
• Food and Drug Administration

Children

• Central Lines (Central Venous Catheters) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Implanted Ports (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC Line) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Tunneled Central Lines (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Feeding tube - infants (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Gastrostomy feeding tube - bolus (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Gastrostomy feeding tube - pump - child (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Jejunostomy feeding tube (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Nasogastric feeding tube (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• PEG tube insertion - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish