Appropriate nutritional support is important for healing from trauma or surgery. In head trauma or post-operative CMF surgical cases, the use of feeding tubes (nasogastric or esophageal) is sometimes needed in order to keep up with the patient’s caloric need. This lecture will focus on NG and E-Tube placement, care, and the various forms of nutritional support that can be utilized with these feeding methods. We will learn how to calculate RER for the healing patient, as well.

Trouble-shooting of obstructed feeding tubes will be discussed, as well as pros and cons for both.