Enteral tube feeding in a cohort of chronic hemodialysis patients.

Malnutrition affects up to half of all chronic dialysis patients and is an important predictor of mortality, but the efficacy of interventions designed to improve the nutritional status of dialysis patients has been poorly studied. Specifically, although enteral tube feeding is often cited as an important option in the treatment of malnourished dialysis patients, there are few studies examining the effectiveness and complications of enteral tube feedings in adults on dialysis. We performed a retrospective analysis of a small cohort (n = 10) of chronic hemodialysis patients who received enteral tube feeding as all or part of their nutrition between January 1 and May 1, 1999, with follow-up through May 1, 2000, to assess the efficacy and complications of enteral tube feeding. Six patients received feeding via a peritoneoscopically placed (PEG) tube, 3 via nasogastric (NG) tube, and 1 patient was switched from PEG to NG feeding after an exit site infection developed at her PEG site. Seven patients received enteral feeding because of swallowing difficulties occurring after a cerebrovascular accident. Four patients were fed via enteral tube temporarily (