Glossary

We all come across unfamiliar words and phrases related to tube feeding and the blended diet. We created our ‘glossary’ to try and help with some of the commonly used terms. It is not an exhaustive list, if there is something missing that you think would be useful for others, let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

  • These are held in place by a water filled balloon. They can be changed at home.

  • There are numerous terms used like ‘blenderized diet’, ‘Liquidised diet’, ‘pureed diet’ and many more. In essence they all describe taking all or part real food and processing it usually with a food processor or blender so it can be given through a feeding tube.

  • A tube feed that is given like a meal. Typically, a larger amount is given in a shorter period of time to mimic oral feeding patterns.

    Bolus feeds with the blended diet are usually given by pushing the food through the feeding tube using a 60ml syringe.

  • A tube feed that is given slowly using a feeding pump. It runs over longer periods of time, either overnight or for many hours per day.

  • Enteral tube-feeding is the delivery of nutrition and hydration through a tube anywhere inside the gastrointestinal tract, when talking about the blended diet this is usually the stomach.

  • How somebody responds to the volume of food being given to them. If the amount given is beyond a persons tolerance they may show signs of discomfort, coughing, vomiting or retching during or after feeding.

  • Administering water into the feeding tube, usually with a syringe, to clear food, formula or medication, and to keep it from clogging.

  • The most common type of feeding tube is the gastrostomy (G) tube. G-tubes are surgically placed through the abdominal wall into the stomach.

  • GJ-tubes are placed in the stomach just like G-tubes, but inside the stomach there is also a thin, long tube threaded into the jejunal (J) portion of the small intestine and has a port for each tube. The J port is not usually used with a blended diet.

  • Gut motility is how food and liquids move through the GI tract. If there is a motility issue, referred to as dysmotility, then food isn’t moving through as it should. There can be dysmotility at any point in the GI tract, from the esophagus all the way to the stomach, intestines and bowels.

  • A J-tube has a stoma directly in to the second portion of the small intestine (jejunum). This is not usually used with a blended diet.

  • ND-tubes are similar to NG-tubes, but they go through the stomach and end in the first portion of the small intestine (duodenum).

  • NG-tube enters the body through the nose and run down the oesophagus into the stomach.

  • NJ tubes extend even further than a D-tube to the second portion of the small intestine (jejunum). his is not usually used with a blended diet.

  • Non-balloon buttons: Non-balloon buttons are harder to pull out than balloon buttons.  Non-balloon buttons cannot be replaced at home.

  • PEG specifically describes a long G-tube placed by endoscopy, and stands for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. Sometimes the term PEG is used to describe all G-tubes.

  • The stoma is the tube site itself (for G-, GJ- and J-tubes). It is the opening that connects the feeding tube on the outside of the body to the stomach or intestine on the inside.

  • This is a general term used typically to mean Enteral Tube-Feeding.

  • Letting the air out of the stomach with a feeding tube, usually through an open 60mL syringe.