Gastrostomy Tube Home Guide in Children

Gastrostomy Tube Home Guide in Children

A gastrostomy tube, or G-tube, is a tube that is inserted through the abdomen into the stomach. The tube is used to give feedings and medicines.

How to care for a G-tube

Supplies needed

• Saline solution or clean, warm water and soap.
• Cotton swabs.
• Precut gauze bandage (dressing), if needed.
• Tape, if needed.

Instructions

1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. If there is a dressing between your child’s skin and the tube, remove it.
3. Check the area where the tube enters the skin. Check for problems such as:
   • Redness.
   • Swelling.
   • Pus-like drainage.
   • Extra skin growth.
4. Moisten the cotton swab with the saline solution or soap and water mixture. Gently clean around the insertion site. Remove any drainage or crusting.
   • When the G-tube is first put in, normal saline solution or water can be used to clean the skin.
   • After the skin around the tube has healed, soap and water may be used.
5. If needed, place a new dressing between your child’s skin and the tube.

How to flush a G-tube

Flush the G-tube regularly to keep it from clogging. Flush it before and after feedings and as often as told by your child’s health care provider.

Supplies needed

• Purified or sterile water, warmed. If your child has a weak disease-fighting (immune) system and has difficulty fighting off infections (are immunocompromised), use only sterile water.
  • If you are unsure about the amount of chemical contaminants in purified or drinking water, use sterile water.
  • To purify drinking water by boiling:
    • Boil water for at least 1 minute. Keep lid over water while it boils. Allow water to cool to room temperature before using.
• 60cc G-tube syringe.

Instructions

1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. Draw up 15 mL of warm water in the syringe.
3. Connect the syringe to the tube.
4. Slowly and gently push the water into the tube.

How to vent a G-tube

To remove excess air and fluid from your child’s stomach, vent the G-tube after feeding.

Supplies needed

• Catheter-tip syringe or a drainage device, such as a drainage bag.

Instructions

1. Wash your hands with soap and water.
2. To provide constant venting:
   • Attach the G-tube to a drainage device. The air will flow out naturally.
3. To vent the tube as needed:
   • Connect a catheter-tip syringe to the G-tube.
   • Use the syringe to gently pull excess air or fluid from the stomach (aspirate).

G-tube problems and solutions

• If your child’s tube comes out:
  • Cover the opening with a clean dressing and tape.
  • Call a health care provider right away.
  • A health care provider will need to put your child’s tube back in within 4 hours.
• If there is skin or scar tissue growing where the tube enters the skin:
  • Keep the area clean and dry.
  • Secure the tube with tape so that your child’s tube does not move around too much.
  • Call a health care provider.
• If your child’s tube gets clogged:
  • Slowly push warm water into the tube with a large syringe.
  • Do not force the fluid into the tube or push an object into the tube.
  • If you are not able to unclog your child’s tube, call a health care provider right away.

Follow these instructions at home:

Feedings

• During a feeding:
  • Make sure your child’s head is above his or her stomach. This will prevent choking and discomfort.
  • If your child seems uncomfortable, stop the feeding. Wait for your child to appear comfortable again.
  • Make feeding pleasant, have your child suck on a pacifier, or hold or talk to your child.

Protecting the tube

• Do notallow your child to pull on the tube. Cover the tube with a T-shirt. One-piece, snap T-shirts work best for infants and toddlers.
• Keep the end of the tube closed to prevent leaking. The tube is closed if it is clamped or connected to a drainage bag.

General instructions

• Follow instructions from your health care provider on how to replace your child’s G-tube.
• If your child’s G-tube has a balloon:
  • Check the fluid in the balloon every week. The amount of fluid that should be in the balloon can be found in the manufacturer’s specifications.
• Measure the length of the G-tube every day from the insertion site to the end of the tube.
• Clamp the tube before removing the cap or disconnecting a syringe.
• Keep the area where the tube enters the skin clean and dry.

Contact a health care provider if:

• Your child has a fever.
• The child is constipated.
• There is a large amount of fluid leaking from around the tube.
• You need to vent the tube often.
• Skin or scar tissue is present where the tube enters the skin.
• The length of tube from the insertion site to the G-tube gets longer.

Get help right away if:

• Your child has abdominal pain, tenderness, or bloating.
• Your child is vomiting.
• Your child has shortness of breath or trouble breathing.
• You notice any of these where the tube enters the skin:
  • Redness, irritation, swelling, or soreness.
  • Pus-like discharge.
  • A bad smell.
• The G-tube is clogged and cannot be flushed.
• The G-tube has come out and you are not able to place it back.

Summary

• A gastrostomy tube, or G-tube, is a tube that is inserted through the abdomen into the stomach. The tube is used to give feedings and medicines.
• Check and clean the insertion site daily as told by your child’s health care provider.
• Flush the G-tube regularly to keep it from clogging. Flush it before and after feedings, and as often as told by your child’s health care provider.
• Keep the area where the tube enters the skin clean and dry.