TOLERANCE TO NASOGASTRIC TUBE FEEDINGS

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Abstract
THE PRESENT study was undertaken because of the frequent occurrence of diarrhea among patients receiving a standard tube-feeding formula which has been in use at the Mayo Clinic for five years.1 While many patients have tolerated the formula well over long periods of time, the incidence of frank diarrhea, sometimes within a few hours of the first feeding, has seemed high enough to cast suspicion on the formula itself as being the causative factor in some instances. An examination of the composition of this formula (Table 1, Tube-Feeding Formula 1) reveals it to be very high in protein and carbohydrate and very low in fat, as compared with a normal diet,2 with most of the protein and carbohydrate being derived from milk. The aims of the study were (1) to determine the frequency of occurrence of symptoms of intolerance (particularly diarrhea) among patients taking the standard tube-feeding formula,