A patient has esophageal cancer and must have a feeding tube inserted. The nurse tells the patient that the tube will be inserted surgically into the duodenum. The wife asks why the tube will not be inserted into the stomach. What should the nurse say?










Probably because the stomache doesn’t digest food, it only mixes it. And from the stomach it could probably reflux back into the esophagus and cause problems.
Jared,
There are two main types of esophageal cancer. The most common type of oesophageal cancer, known as adenocarcinoma, develops in the glandular tissue in the lower part of the oesophagus, near the opening of the stomach. It occurs in just over 50 percent of cases. Squamous cell carcinoma grows in the cells that form the top layer of the lining of the oesophagus, known as squamous cells. This type of cancer can grow anywhere along the esophagus. Oesophageal cancer is cancer that develops in the oesophagus, the muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach. The oesophagus, located just behind the trachea, is about 10 to 13 inches in length and allows food to enter the stomach for digestion. The wall of the oesophagus is made up of several layers and cancers generally start from the inner layer and grow out. A flexible, narrow tube is inserted into some portion of the digestive tract and liquid formulas or liquefied foods are placed into the tube to meet the patient’s nutritional needs. The feeding may be pumped into the tube or allowed to drip into the tube continuously or at scheduled feeding times. Percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy tubes (JEJ or PEJ tubes) are tubes that are put into a part of the small intestine called the jejunum. The jejunum is situated a little way after the stomach. The surgeon puts a tube through an opening in the abdomen and into the jejunum. PEJ tubes are put in using an endoscopy, like a PEG tube – (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy). This type of tube is particularly used for people who have stomach or oesophageal surgery. If the tube goes directly into the small intestine, feeds are usually given slowly all the time. There is usually a pump that controls the speed of the feed passing into the tube, rather than a drip-feed. If the feeding tube is inserted into the stomach, there has to be a period of “rest” to allow the stomach respite from working. Also, it depends on the location of the cancer in the oesophagus, which may influence the location of the jejunostomy tube.
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Hope this helps
matador 89