Hello. I Am A Caregiver To A Quadriplegic Patient .

Posted on Mon, 10 Jun 2019

Question: Hello. I am a caregiver to a quadriplegic patient . He wears an 18fr gtube and it’s balloon came undone . I was able to hold it in place but the balloon does not fill up . I have an emergency replacement but it is smaller (16fr). My question is , do I replace it with the smaller gtube until he is able to see a gastroenterologist or do I continue to hold the one in place without a balloon and take him to the emergency room

Answered by Dr. V. N. S. Parinam (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You can replace with 16fr gastrostomy tube

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

If you are trained to replace ithe gastrostomy tube, I suggest to replace with the emergency tube of 16 fr size that you have and fill the balloon. This helps till the time he reaches a GI specialist.

If you do not know how to replace then better hold the tube.

Hope this answers.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana