Efficacies of semi-solidification technique for liquid enteral nutrients with pectin solution jejunal enteral nutrition

Abstract

In jejunal enteral nutrition cases, gastrointestinal symptoms might be caused, for example intractable diarrhea, dumping syndrome. Therefore in the guidelines for jejunal enteral nutrition, it is recommended that liquid nutrients should be dripped slowly to prevent those symptoms. However, limitation for volume of nutrients, and time constraints due to long time dripping will be an issue. For those reasons, jejunal enteral nutrition causes much stress to both patients and caregivers and lowers quality of life. In jejunal feeding cases by percutaneous trans-esophageal gastro-tubing (PTEG), the semi-solidification technique using pectin solution will be the key. This technique reacts free calcium ions in the liquid nutrients with pectin to increase the viscosity of the nutrients and slow down the progress of the nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract. It has made it possible to administer nutrients in a short time without causing those gastrointestinal symptoms. Because this technique can be used not only for PTEG, but also is useful for other enteral nutrition through a thin and long tube, for example naso-gastric tubing (NGT), PEG-jejunal tubing (PEG-J), JET-PEG, we report its efficacies.