Home Care Enteral Therapy
Sometimes an illness or surgery will make it difficult for a child to eat enough food to maintain good health. When nutritional needs are not being met by food eaten by mouth, nutrition can be received by other pathways. Cincinnati Children’s Home Care Pharmacy Enteral Therapy team of pharmacists, certified pharmacy technicians, and a registered dietician will work with you and your child’s doctor to provide your child’s prescribed nutritional needs and delivery method.
We understand your child’s enteral needs. Our in-house registered dietician is available to answer questions about your child’s formula and pump, assist with formula changes, and provide support services to help you manage your child’s nutritional needs safely at home.
Enteral therapy is a liquid nutritional supplement prescribed by your child’s Cincinnati Children’s doctor. It is given by a feeding tube to meet a patient’s exact nutritional needs.
There are several types of feeding tubes. The most common are:
- Nasogastric tube (NG tube) − inserted through the nose and down into the stomach or intestine
- Gastrostomy tube (G-tube) − inserted through a small incision in the abdomen and into the stomach
- Gastrostomy-Jejunostomy tube (G-J tube) − surgically inserted in the upper section of the small intestine
