Oral medicine administration errors in a patient with an enteral feeding tube

Abstract

Proper nutrition is vital for all patients with an expected lifespan. It is strongly recommended that patients whose oral intake is impaired or suspected to be impaired should be provided nutritional support. Concurrent medication administration during enteral nutrition may result in complications unless necessary precautions are taken. This study presents a case of a 94-year-old male patient with poor general health condition and being treated in a palliative care service. The patient was fed with an enteral feeding tube for seven drugs. There have been two tube occlusions causing the replacement of the tube since the enteral feeding tube was placed.The clinical pharmacist checked how the patient’s drugs were given through a nasogastric tube and how the patient’s relatives administered the drugs. Inappropriate dosage form selections and errors in administration through the nasogastric tube were identified. The interaction and incompatibility of the patient’s medications with the nutritional formula were also investigated. The clinical pharmacist informed the person giving the medicine to the patient about the correct administration of the medicine from the tube. The proper method for administering medications from the tube was ensured accordingly. Following the clinical pharmacist’s training, it was observed that the nasogastric tube was correctly used to administer the drug and the patient being monitored had no tube obstruction in the later phases of the treatment.It may be beneficial for a pharmacist to review drug dosage forms and applications in patients with a feeding tube in order to ensure correct administration and avoid undesired drug interactions.

Keywords

• Clinical pharmacy
• enteral feeding tube
• nasogastric tube
• palliative care

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